


A Moment

by NikitaDreams



Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: F/M, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-10
Updated: 2013-11-18
Packaged: 2017-12-14 12:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 79,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikitaDreams/pseuds/NikitaDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of stand-alone scenes involving Dom and Letty and their family in the future. Sweet family moments, general fluff, some teenage misbehavior and inappropriate shenanigans. Takes place after Fast 6, with slight AU bend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Moment

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as a one shot. Just something that popped into my head. I’d like to think that after Fast Six my favorite couple ends up together and gets a chance to have something a little normal. A sweet moment between family. I guess you could call this fluff.

_“In my daughter's eyes I am a hero_  
I am strong and wise and I know no fear  
But the truth is plain to see  
She was sent to rescue me  
I see who I want to be  
In my daughter's eyes”  
In My Daughter’s Eyes – Martina McBride 

Hunched over the open hood of a car in the garage, the midday sun making the air feel dry and a bit stale, the man pretended not to hear the approach of small feet. The scuff of sneakers on the driveway, little falling-apart black converse, tiny red jeans, a black t-shirt with a little car on the chest. He smiled to himself, staring down at the engine and wires without really seeing them, watching out of the corner of his eye as those sneakered feet wandered closer. Tiny hands trailed along the side of the car, a little voice singing some half-nonsense song. The child dipped her head to look down at her feet, pressing up to her tiptoes. Black hair caught between curls and uncontrollable waves haloed her tiny head. She tilted her head, her huge, dark eyes sliding up to meet his and she grinned. A wicked little smile that promised mischief as she sidled up to stand beside him at the hood of the car. Tiny hands curled against the car’s nose as she stood on her toes again, peering curiously at all the exposed parts.

“What doing?” she asked, her childish voice lilting up at him.

“I’m replacing the battery,” he said, pointing to the one he’d removed just minutes before.

“Cause it died?” she chirped, looking up at him with those big eyes of hers. The three year old hadn’t yet mastered perfect sentences, but she knew more about cars than most kids in high school.

“That’s right.” He smiled, ruffling her hair. “What are you doing out here by yourself?”

“Not by self,” she corrected, looking very serious. “Papi’s here.” She pointed at him.

Well she had him there. Still. “Does your mother know you’re out here?”

The child pouted, her lower lip jutting out slightly as she rocked backwards on her heels. “Uhm… maybe…?”

“That would be a no,” a voice from the open door said, laughter in her tones. “But I figured where she’d be.”

The woman standing there with the daylight at her back was a grown version of the tiny girl. The low-slung jeans had seen better days, but they’d spent the morning painting the house and she’d left them on. Her feet were bare, toenails painted purple… of all colors and she wore a snug black tank top. Her dark hair was loose, untamed waves framing her face and she smiled, watching him with those same dark eyes.

“I just thought about where I’d have been at her age,” she said.

He laughed, leaning over to drop the new battery in place. “That’s probably true. For both of us.”

Stepping into the garage the woman leaned down to scoop up her child, tickling her until the girl was giggling and squealing. The sound was music to his ears. 

“You little sneak,” the woman said, holding her daughter upside down. “You were supposed to be helping Mami clean up your room. Don’t you get enough of cars when you come with Papi and me to the garage?”

“No Mami, no!” the girl laughed, wiggling around until she was red-faced. “Papi save me!”

“How about this,” he lamented after a moment. “We’ll go inside and clean up your room, and tomorrow you can come with Papi when he goes driving at the old track.”

The girl gasped in delight, squirming until she was set on her feet, then turned to run back to the house as fast as her little feet would take her.

“Dom…” his wife scolded, watching her disappear into the back door. “You’re really going to take our daughter to a race track?”

“Come on Let… I promise I won’t drive that fast. Besides, my Dad took me out on the track when I was about her age. No one else will be around. It will be totally fine.”

She sighed. “Listen to me, all responsible and shit. I blame your sister’s influence.”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close for a slow kiss. She leaned into him, her hands sliding up his back. They’d been through so much, the two of them. Love, loss… criminal enterprise… fleeing the country, one supposed death and a whole lot of hurt between them. And somehow after it all they’d found themselves together again. 

Dom slid his hand into Letty’s hair and she turned her head against his chest, relaxing for a long moment. He grinned and nuzzled the top of her head.

“You’re coming tomorrow too, aren’t you?”

She scoffed. “Of course. As if I’d let you leave me behind.” She pinched his side and pulled away. “I’d better go check on your daughter before she breaks something. I swear that girl has more energy than the Tasmanian devil.”

Dom laughed, letting her go. “She’s got fuel in her blood, Let. And I think we’re both to blame.”


	2. An Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An afternoon of family fun in the sun. For those who have seen the film, I know Mia and Brian's son is named Jack, but I named him before the movie came out and I wanted to keep it as Vince (after Vince from the films).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I am not giving Dom and Letty's daughter a name because I want you to be able to picture whatever name you'd like to give her! Enjoy!

The LA summer sun beat down on the sidewalk, washing the concrete white and chasing all the little bugs and other critters for the shade. Cars lined the streets and the smells of smoky barbeque filled the air. Shrieks and the sounds of children's laughter echoed in the neighborhood. On the front lawn sat a red tricycle, silver streamers on its handles and a lightning bolt painted along one side. Sandals by the front door sat abandoned on the porch, a bucket still sandy from the last trip to the beach, orange shovel tucked inside.

Around the side of the house a little girl came running, bare feet digging into the grass and kicking up blades that stuck to her little brown legs. Her red swimsuit soaked through and her dark curls dripping with water she turned to shoot a jet of water behind her then squealed as she was pelted by a water balloon hefted by a boy slightly older than her, his brown limbs gangly and his hair gone sandy blonde under the summer sun. Flicking bits of green balloon out of her hair she squirted him in the face and took off running, her laughter gleeful.

She took the steps up the front porch at high speed, leaving little wet footprints on the wood. Yanking the door open she was inside and halfway across the living room before the screen door slammed behind her, trailing water and tracking grass and dirt across the carpet. Through the kitchen where she slid across the linoleum, barely hearing her aunt's scolding echoing behind her. She was out the back door, greeted by the laughter of her companion and a face full of water as he fired his high-powered water gun at her. Sputtering she launched off the rear step to chase after him.

The little girl clambered under the table set out in the yard, circling around her Uncle's chair and overturning his beer in pursuit of her target. She streaked past her father at the grill, who laughed at the predicament of his brother-in-law with beer on his pants, and skirted around her mother getting him another beverage from the cooler.

"Cool your jets, mija!" the woman called after her and the child grinned in delight.

"Mami pway wif us!" she demanded, standing still long enough to rock back on her heels.

"If Mami played with you she'd kick your little butts. Why don't you keep playing with your cousin?"

"Mami, kick V's butt!" she squealed delightedly, laughing.

"That's not fair," the little boy said, pouting. "If you get your Mom then I get Uncle Dom!"

The little girl's mouth went wide as her dark eyes. "My Papi!" she said, pointing a finger accusingly at her cousin. "Get youw own."

Brian shook his head. "Yeah what's up with that Vincent? No loyalty."

"He just knows I'd beat you at a water fight," Letty said with a grin. "Smart kid."

"Are you admitting you can't beat Dom?" Brian asked, his eyes sparking wickedly. The challenge was in the air.

Dom was still at the grill, laughing, that cocky little half-grin on his face when Letty grabbed the water gun from her daughter and shot him right in the face.

"Letty that's cheap!" he said. "You're getting the food wet!"

She only shot him again, painting a line of water across his white t-shirt while their daughter gasped and giggled, running towards the shed where the rest of the water guns were stashed.

Abandoning the food Dom ran after Letty but she laughed and ducked out of his reach, grabbing the high-powered water gun from little Vince's hands and turning to shoot both at him before disappearing around the side of the house.

"You're going to pay for that Leticia," he threatened, laughter in his voice and water in his eyes.

Putting a conspiratorial finger to his lips he winked towards his daughter and she trailed after him as he rounded the opposite side of the house towards where the hose was curled.

When Letty peered into the yard she saw Brian, now in clean shorts, tending the grill with Vince sitting on the lid of the cooler, swinging his legs. She frowned, stepping further into the yard only to be sprayed by a stream of freezing cold water from the hose that soaked her within seconds. She whirled on her attacker, who was laughing at the murderous look in her eyes.

"You're in trouble Dominic," she threatened, advancing on him.

0000

A half hour later when Mia stepped out in the yard she gasped. The cooler was overturned, ice melting in the grass and beer and soda sprawled across the ground. Her son sat amongst the mess, his hands muddy and his bathing suit and soaking wet and laughing. Brian was standing in front of the closed grill, equally wet and looking partially amused, partially annoyed. Her niece's squealing laughter proceeded her running around the side of the house, a mess of water, mud and grass. She was followed by Dom who carried Letty over his shoulder, the both of them soaked through and her sister-in-law pounding at his back and squirming as Dom laughed, smacking her ass lightly.

Mia's jaw dropped and she gaped wordlessly for a moment and then narrowed her eyes at Dom who promptly set Letty on her feet and looked innocent.

Letty pushed her hair from her eyes and turned, plastering a smile on her face. "Hey Mi. Dinner time?"

"Get cleaned up," she ordered, pointing to the house. "All of you!" she added when Brian didn't get moving fast enough.

"Children…" they heard her muttering under her breath as they filed dutifully inside. "All of them…"

"You'd better hope my chicken's not burned!" drifted through the closed door, and soft snickers followed the rest of the crew upstairs.


	3. An Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bedtime story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is AU since the 6th film because Dom and Letty met when she was 15 at a street race. However I wrote this prior to seeing it, and was running under the information from Mia in the first film that she lived down the street. However I think this chapter is cute so I decided to keep it.

"Papi," the little voice murmured from the bundle of blankets on the bed in the darkened room. He turned in the doorway, standing in the rectangle of light that washed into the bedroom.

The walls were painted dark blue with stripes of red, the carpet on the floor was a series of little roads and race tracks instead of a pretty pattern. There was a toy box in one corner that he knew was overflowing with hot-wheels and action figures. A bookshelf crammed with picture books and DVDs of Disney movies. Dragging his gaze from the sweep of the room, Dom let them settle on the small shape of his daughter as she rolled over in her bed.

Dark eyes peeked out from beneath Toy Story sheets, liquid in the light that slipped from the hallway behind him.

"What is it?" he asked patiently.

"Can you tell me a stowy?" Her tiny voice was plaintive and he sighed, rubbing a hand over his head and trying not to remember a time when this would _not_ be what he was doing at 8 pm on a Saturday night.

"You already had a story."

"I had a book. Want a stowy. About you and Mami…" She peered up at him again with those damn big eyes of hers. "Pwease?"

"Okay," he relented, crossing the room to sit on the edge of her bed as he tried to wrack his brain for a story about him and Letty that would be proper for a four-year-old's ears. "How about the first time Mami and Papi met?"

She looked thoughtful. "Onwy if der's no kissin'."

He laughed and shook his head. Now if only she'd keep that opinion about kissing in about twelve years or so… "No kissing, I promise."

"Okay," she agreed happily, settling down with her head on her pillow.

"Well you know Papi and Aunt Mia grew up in LA right? We lived in this little neighborhood, not too far away from the store where your grandma, Papi's mother, worked and the garage that your grandpa, Papi's Dad, ran. There were lots of other houses like ours on the block and some other families. But no one who had any kids Aunt Mia's age. Papi had his own friends to play with, but your Aunt Mia didn't like the same things so she wanted a girl friend to play with."

He glanced down at his daughter, who had her eyes still wide open, paying rapt attention. Clearing his throat, Dom remembered back as he spoke.

"So one day there was a moving truck on the street, and Aunt Mia was really curious so she made Papi go down the street with her and see who was moving in. When we got down the street there was a man and a woman taking things inside, but there was also a little girl, just a few years older than you, sitting on the hood of a car."

"Mami?" she asked cautiously.

"That's right. And Aunt Mia was really excited cause now there was another girl in the neighborhood and she looked about the same age. She really wanted someone to play with, so she asked the girl what her name was."

"Well Mami wasn't shy but she wasn't really talkative like you or your Aunt Mia, so she just kind of stared at Aunt Mia with those dark eyes for a long time. And she looked at me too and you know… Papi was pretty annoyed cause he didn't want another girl around and he was too big to play with little girls so he didn't say anything either."

"Dat wasn't nice, Papi. Wat wrong wif girls?"

He smiled, tweaking her little nose. "Nothing. But see, Papi didn't understand back then. He thought girls were silly and only liked things like dolls."

"Not Mami! Not me!"

"That's right. Turned out your Mami didn't like girl stuff at all. Mia kept pestering her and drew her out of her shell little by little. Found out her name was Letty. Saw her riding her bicycle and took her's out to ride with her… did lots of little things like Aunt Mia does to try and be her friend." He smiled, his eyes crinkling with the memory. His sister hadn't really changed all that much. "And it worked. And one day Mami started coming over to play. But she wouldn't touch Aunt Mia's dolls or play dress up. And she never wore girly clothes or looked like she brushed her hair. But she really liked to listen to Papi's Dad talk about cars. She liked looking at the magazines with cars in them and she liked to learn about engines. She liked to come to the garage. Soon she was there all the time, just like she always had been. Like she'd always been a part of our family. A part of our lives."

"And den you gots mawwied?" the little girl asked around a noisy yawn.

"Well… not quite then but eventually yeah. And then we had you." He leaned to press a kiss to the head haloed with dark curls. The child's eyes had fallen shut, her lashes little dark crescents on a face still round with baby fat. He stroked a hand over the gentle curve of her cheek and smiled, and wondered why he'd ever wanted to do _anything else_ at 8 pm on a Saturday night.


	4. An Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teenaged daughter sneaks out to a party. Is anyone surprised?

"If I get caught my parents will kill me," the dark-skinned girl complained as she crept away from the darkened house just after midnight, making for her best-friend's car idling in the street. Her partner in crime only laughed, a husky sound that her voice had developed into sometime around her thirteenth year.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" she asked, grinning at her with a wicked little smile as she rounded the red '69 Shelby GT-500. She'd fixed the baby up with her parents, gaining the keys and her license at age 16. She'd run her first drag down Lafayette Ave two months later and the adrenaline rush had been addictive.

Some things her parents turned a blind eye to, but they warned her against getting in trouble with the cops and didn't want her out past midnight on a school night. And her father definitely, definitely did not want her at parties with college boys.

But she was nothing if not her parents' daughter and so she pushed the boundaries as far as she could, and broke more than a few "laws of the land" as her father called them. She was almost 17 now and in her mind that meant she was nearly an adult.

Her friend yanked open the passenger door and slid in carefully so as not to flash her panties in her too-short skirt. It was gold, which complimented the darkness of her skin, and the heels she wore were matching and strappy. Her top was black and her hair was curled. Her lips were glossy.

"Dios mio, who knew you cleaned up so well, Lia?"

"Shove it, Toretto," the other girl muttered back, tugging at her skirt. "You're one to talk."

The young woman had taken advantage of the curves she'd inherited from her mother, opting for a pair of snug black jeans that rode low on her hips and a red top in a clingy silky material that was mostly backless. Her red heels were sitting in the back seat. They weren't proper driving shoes. Her hair, which she'd taken her mother's advice with and stopped trying to tame and straighten, was let wild in a spill of black curls down her back. She wore lip gloss but no other makeup. She knew she didn't need it anyway.

"Look, Liana I know I look hot but are you done staring? I'm ready to go to the party." She smirked over at her friend who gave her the finger.

"You're the driver."

"Buckle your ass up."

"Fine, fine… Mom." Lia grumbled and fastened her seat belt.

Shifting out of park, the teenager put her foot to the pedal and they were off, the wind blowing in their hair and their laughter echoing down the street.

0000

It was after 3 am when Lia nudged her friend at the sound of a cell-phone going off. Drunkenly lifting her head from the railing of the balcony where she had puked up her last three beers and a jello shot, the teen moaned and fished it out of her pocket. The numbers blurred a moment before she realized it was her mother's cell phone.

_You are in so much fucking trouble._

Shit. Ah shit. She groaned again and dropped her head, willing the text to go away. The party inside was still going on and though she'd had fun, damn she'd had fun… her stomach was telling her she'd had way too much fun. And Liana wasn't in any better shape. She didn't think she could make it to the car without falling over, let alone drive.

Her head spun. No, she definitely wasn't going to drive.

Her phone beeped again. She winced then hazarded a glance at it.

_Address._

Sighing, she tabbed over to her address book, copying and pasting it and hitting reply. She groaned again, silent for a moment then blew a lock of hair out of her face.

"My mom's coming to get us..."

"Fuck," Lia whined. "I'm gonna get my ass beat."

"Tell me about it." Another sigh. Her stomach was feeling steadier. "Let's go wait out front for her. That way this isn't as embarrassing as it could be."

"Right..."

Together they picked up their shoes and wobbled back inside, waved weakly to the cute guys as they scurried out the front door.

Ten minutes sprawled on the front lawn counting the empty beer bottles and cans and crushed red solo cups and her mother's car was pulling up in front of the house. She lurched to her feet, her face green, clutching at her stomach and doubling over as Lia took way too long gathering their shoes.

Her mother didn't say a thing as she slid into the passenger seat, though she was relieved to see at least she'd come alone. She kept her head between her legs for most of the ride, cringing at each swerve and turn and dip. She muttered a weak "see ya" when Lia was dropped off in front of her house. Winced when she heard her friend's mother screaming before the screen door slammed shut.

They sat there for a moment before she realized they weren't moving, and the teenager slowly lifted her head to see her mother looking at her. She smiled weakly.

"Mami… I'm-"

"Don't you Mami me," Letty replied, her brow winging up. "You're not five years old anymore. Those big eyes might work on your father but they won't work on me."

"I'm sorry," she finished weakly.

"You're going to be sorry. You're going to be real sorry when you're up all night throwing up all that beer. And tomorrow morning when I wake you up for school and your head is pounding with the worst hangover you'll ever have in your life. And you'll be really sorry if your father sees that top you have on, or if he ever gets wind of anything unladylike you did at that party."

The girl clamped her mouth shut, fear in her eyes. "How did you-"

"Sweetheart, Mami was 16 once too. Everything you did, I've done better. Or worse, depending on how you look at it. So that's why you're going to deal with the vomit and you're going to go to school tomorrow when you feel like shit. And we won't tell Papi about how many beers and mixed drinks you had. Or what you were wearing or how old the boys at the party were. Tomorrow after school we'll go and pick up your car and then you'll hand over the keys because you're grounded for the next week. No arguments. I'm sure your friend Lia is getting a hell of a lot worse."

The girl could only nod, wide-eyed.

"Good. Next time mija, stick to partying on the weekends."


	5. A Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of kindergarten

"I'm too sick for kinder-garden," the girl proclaimed, dragging her socked feet across the carpet. Brand new red converse sat beside her batman backpack. She'd colored racing stripes along the side with silver gel pens.

Her hair had been tamed in two braids earlier that morning, when Mami had brushed it and told her that she'd like school and she'd make lots of new friends. She didn't want to make new friends. She wanted to go to the garage with Mami and Papi and play with the cars and color in her animal book. She wanted to make Uncle Brian carry her around piggy-back and eat Aunt Mia's monster sandwiches at lunch break. She wanted to search the scrap pile for pretty pieces of metal that Aunt Mia would help her make into a charm bracelet, and practice tightening lug nuts with Papi. She wanted to leave greasy handprints on Mami's coveralls until she tickled her into submission.

She wanted to walk down to the store with Papi while he told her stories about a long time ago and laugh when they caught Mami singing off-key to her iPod, head under the hood of a car, hips swaying.

Most of all she knew that she didn't want to go to school. She didn't care that she had brand-new shoes and clothes and that Mami had said she could wear her red leather jacket. She didn't care that she had a hot wheels lunchbox all full of snacks with her favorite juice box. She didn't even care that Papi was going to drive her in grandpa's old car.

Okay, so maybe she cared about that a _little_. And maybe she dawdled at the window to watch him move her booster seat into the back, dancing around on her tippy toes. She lingered over her breakfast, even though strawberry waffles were her favorite, pushing pieces around on her plate until her mother took it away, declaring if she wasn't going to eat it she wasn't going to play with it, and to get her shoes on.

So here she was, one shoe on, laces still untied, pouting up at her father, who was waiting patiently for her to finish getting ready.

"I'm sick," she moaned, flopping onto her back on the floor. "Mi estómago se sienta mal…" another groan, she crossed her arms over her belly, eyes closed.

Silence.

She cracked one eyelid, peering up to see her father still staring down at her evenly. He had that look in his eyes. That look he got when she lied about drawing on the walls. Or when she repeated a bad word. He called that his "no-nonsense look" and she knew it meant that she would not be getting out of her first day of kindergarten.

With a heavy sigh she shoved on her other shoe, lacing both up like Mami showed her. Cross over, make one loop, then another and pull it through. She had to do it twice to get the left shoe tied, then wiggled her toes proudly. Jacket went on, and she might have paused in the entryway to check herself out in the mirror, before snatching up backpack and lunchbox in her little hands.

"I'm ready," she stated, still pouting a little. But when Papi led her outside she practically skipped her way over to grandpa's car. It was shiny and black. Mami called it a monster. It made loud noises when it went, _vroom vroom_.

She didn't want to sit in the back in her little kid booster seat. She wanted to sit up front with Papi. She couldn't wait until she could drive. _Vroom vroom!_

She mimicked steering, little engine noises as she yanked open the back door, tossing her backpack and lunchbox to the floor and climbing into her seat. She could buckle herself in now and Papi didn't even have to check the straps, though he usually did, tweaking her nose as she wiggled in her seat and demanded that he "Go! Go, drive fast, Papi!"

He rolled down the window so she could feel the wind in her face and turned on the radio. She sang along to "I can't drive 55" with Sammy Hagar.

And wouldn't you know it… turned out the first day of kindergarten… wasn't so bad.


	6. A Once in a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom and Letty get married

"Mi… is this really necessary?" Letty groused as she fidgeted under her friend's ministrations.

Behind her Mia pulled another bobby pin from her mouth as she released a curl of hair from the curling iron. "Yes."

"But you know Dom's not going to care what my hair looks like…"

"I care. And you'll care in about twenty years when you look back at all the pictures I'm going to take."

Letty groaned, letting Mia tilt her head to the side. "I'm not really the type to fondly peruse photo albums…"

"Not yet, but wait till you have kids to share the memories with."

"Now wait a minute, you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself there…"

"The panic in your voice is really amusing me but stop moving or I'll burn you with this thing," Mia scolded, laughter in her voice. Her dark eyes sparkled and she admired her handiwork, pleased with herself. "Just let me fuss. It's not every day my big brother and my best friend get married."

Letty snorted. "No kidding," she muttered.

It been a rocky road to this point and there had been times when she'd given up on the idea of ever having her family back. And then Dom had come bursting back into her life in London and turned everything upside down again. He'd made her remember how to feel things again, made her remember how much she'd loved him. Scared her so much. That you could love someone so intensely you'd lose yourself. She'd fought hard for him before, and she'd fought against him when he'd come back, looking at her like she was a ghost. Looking back on it she was often surprised he hadn't given up on her.

She fidgeted, ready to voice her doubts when there was a soft knock on the door and a little voice. "Mommy?"

Mia turned her head, set down the curling iron and moved to unlock the door. Her son, little Vincent was only one and a half. He'd been just a tiny baby when Letty had first seen him and she hadn't been around when he'd been born. He looked like Brian, everyone agreed because of the blonde hair. But his dark eyes were all Mia's and his skin tone tended towards caramel. Mia scooped him up, smacking a kiss against his little cheek that had him giggling, and then eased the door shut with her hip.

"You want to help Mommy and Aunt Letty get pretty?" she asked.

"Yeah!" he cheered and she set him on his feet. Letty laughed when he climbed into her lap, patting her face with little hands and surveying her. "Pwetty," he declared after a moment and she hugged him, feeling her nerves ease at the simple, childish statement.

"That's right," Mia said with a smile, turning away to finish her own makeup. She fixed a red flower over her ear in her hair, which she'd also curled so that it hung loose down her back. Her feet were bare, a secession to the fact that the ceremony would be on the beach, but she wore a gold anklet around her left leg.

"Come on, buddy," she beckoned to her son, who jumped down from his aunt's lap. "It's time for the ceremony."

Letty stood, smoothing out the skirts of the dress she wore. It was white, even though it certainly wasn't a white wedding. But Mia had rolled her eyes and said that was bullshit and every bride who wanted to should wear white. After all, she'd worn white on her wedding and she'd been 6 months pregnant.

It was more sundress than formal, thin straps that crisscrossed in the back and a fitted bodice made of layers of white silk that overlapped to make a sort of ruched pattern that continued down to the skirts which fell in overlapping layers to her knees. Mia had curled her hair, pulling it away from her face and fixing little white flowers amongst the dark locks. The only jewelry she wore were her father's dog tags and the ring Dom had proposed to her with. It wasn't fancy or incredibly expensive. She didn't need a big rock on her hand, and he hadn't bought it after Rio. In fact, he'd told her, he'd had it with him since Mexico, too afraid to ask her to pledge herself to a wanted man. And then after he had thought her dead, unable to make himself get rid of it. So he'd tucked it away with her things in a box with her name on it.

That had meant more than something worth a million dollars. They'd both changed, but they still loved each other. She thought that it was probably true that they loved each other more now that they'd both experienced loss and pain and grown up a hell of a lot.

Letty followed Mia and Vince out of the beach house and down the back porch to join the others gathered in the sand. Her eyes met Dom's and everything else fell away as she took his hands. Her own felt dwarfed beneath the grip of his. The gathering wasn't large, just Mia and Brian and little Vince, Leon had flown in for the event, a few other friends… old and new. Hector, Roman, Tej… Some friends were long gone, but were there in memory.

Mia had been right. Maybe she didn't care about a pretty dress or flowers in her hair. But she would like to hold onto these memories, these once in a lifetimes.


	7. A Milestone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daughter graduates from high school

The young woman sitting on the hood of the Red 69 Shelby was the picture of her mother at that age. He knew because he could remember. The same long hair, dark and curled wild down her back. She wore it longer than Letty did back then, more at ease with her wild nature and having inherited some of that self-confidence from him, no doubt.

Long bronzed legs peeking out from ripped denim shorts. Feet bare, toenails painted black. She wore an old grey tank top of Letty's and an oversized shirt from the garage. She smiled when he approached, raised her bottle of corona and took a drink.

"Hey, Dad."

"Shouldn't you be enjoying your graduation party?" he asked, his own beer held loosely in his hand. The music from the house was loud enough to drift out to them, the chatter of voices, laughter…

She smiled. "I'm enjoying it. And my moment of peace." She sighed, tilting her head back. "I have half a dozen more parties to go to this week. Seems like such a big deal for a slip of paper saying I managed to drag my ass through high school."

"Drag your ass, you did great."

"Only cause you made me do my homework and study. And Aunt Mia helped me." She laughed, folding up her legs to sit Indian style.

"So you can go to college," he reminded and she groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Community college," she said with a smile. "Right here in LA. General courses part time so I can work at the garage," she pointed at him. "You promised."

"And then?"

"And then we'll see…" she shrugged vaguely, taking a drink of her beer then grinned at him. "Come on, Dad I'm only 17. No need to plan out every bit of the rest of my life."

"I guess you're right." He smirked. "Damn, kid, when did you get so smart?"

"Oh I don't know… sometime between oil changes and tire rotations?" She slid off the car and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He ruffled her hair and tweaked her nose when she pulled away and she laughed, heading back towards the party.

He stood for a moment, studying the Shelby in the lights from the house that washed the driveway. He remembered like it was yesterday the day they'd picked it up at an auction. It had been a rusted wreck, in need of some serious wrench time and more than one coat of paint. But they'd put that time in together, as a family. The same way he'd worked in the garage every week with his Dad as a kid. The same way Letty had tuned up the Charger when she'd wanted him to come home.

He ran a hand along the hood of the car idly, lost in his thoughts.

"It's a damn fine car," Letty's husky voice snuck up beside him, but he smiled as she ducked under his arm and reached for the beer in his hand. "She said you were still out here. What's on your mind, Papa?"

He sighed, tangling his hand in her hair and staring out into the distance. "How'd it get to be high school graduation already? Seems like just yesterday she was trying to cut kindergarten."

"Seems like… sometimes, but we've got 17 years of good memories that say otherwise." She smiled. "You just can't deal with getting old."

"That's just mean, Let."

"That's me, taking joy in your suffering. Especially because I'm younger." She smirked and then squeaked when he lifted her up by the hips and set her on the hood of the car. Her dark eyes glinted up at him, bronze skin glowing in the faint wash of light.

"I'll show you how old I am," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her slowly. She smiled against his lips, catching the lower one between her teeth as her hand inched up his back slowly.

The front door swung open and then there was a groan of disgust coming from the direction of the house that had Dom lifting his head to see his daughter standing there.

"You guys are so not making out on _my car_ right because I could really do without that."

Letty laughed, hoping off the car and heading back to the house. "What makes you think we hadn't already?" she asked cheekily, followed by her laughing husband, past their shocked child, back inside.

"Ah man! Gross!" she cried.

So maybe 17 wasn't all that grown up.


	8. A Nap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short, sweet, Daddy/daughter moment

It had been a long couple of days. A stomach bug Vince had brought home from school had been passed around the garage when Mia had stubbornly come in sick to do the books. Brian had been the first one down, and Letty and Dom had struggled to keep up with the full schedule of work without him. Brian had been back the next day but then Dom had left early, sick as a dog. On the last day both Letty and their two-year-old daughter had caught the bug. She'd barely had time to rest, too busy taking care of a sick toddler to do much more than pump herself full of meds. They'd been more than behind at the garage so Dom couldn't come home and help like he might have. As it was, when he'd gotten home after dark she'd left him with a crying baby and crawled into bed, passing out for a solid 14 hours of sleep.

This morning she'd finally woken up feeling better, but Dom had been gone by the time she'd peeled herself out of bed and showered. A text on her phone let her know he'd taken the kid with him to the garage and to come in if she felt up to it.

She'd felt a little guilty about sleeping in, especially knowing that he probably hadn't gotten a restful night's sleep himself, so she'd stopped off to pick up some lunch for everyone before heading to the garage.

Twenty minutes later she pulled up in front of the shop, bags of hot food making her car smell like burgers. She slid out of the seat and grabbed the grub before walking up towards where faint music was filtering out of the open door. She couldn't hear any tools going or any clanging or chatter, but she saw Mia and Brian sitting out front together with a couple of water bottles. They waved, and then grinned at her gratefully as she passed them one of the bags.

She was about to ask where Dom was when Mia made a shushing motion and then pointed behind them. Raising a brow in confusion Letty walked into the garage and looked around.

Then she spotted them.

Dom was stretched out on the couch in the back of the garage. The old beat up thing had gotten more than its fair share of use throughout the years. She'd crashed there a few times after school, particularly rough nights at home. They'd had a lot of sex on that couch too, and various other parts of the garage, admittedly. She'd slept there lots of nights after Dom went to prison, with Mia staying with her grandmother and nowhere else to go when home got bad. The garage had always been here.

But now, Dom was asleep on that couch, head propped against the sagging arm, one leg bent, the other hanging off the side, face relaxed, greasy coveralls unbuttoned down to his waist and an old dirty wifebeater beneath it. Their daughter was sprawled on her stomach atop his chest, head pillowed there, ear turned against his heart, tiny mouth open in her sleep, dark curls a mess atop her head. One of Dom's big hands rested against her little back, holding her against him in his sleep.

Smiling, Letty watched them for a moment before turning to slip back outside and join her brother and sister-in-law.

After last night, they probably both deserved a nice nap.


	9. A Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby Toretto's first Christmas.

It was baby Toretto's first Christmas, and Mia seemed to think it was incredibly important even though the kid was too young to ever remember it later in life or to fully appreciate the massive fucking pile of gifts under the tree. Letty said that the best gift was the fact that she was finally sleeping through the night and Dom was apt to agree.

Still, they'd all been willingly dragged along when the younger Toretto sibling had wanted to drive up to the mountains to pick out a tree and cut it down. And it had been amusing to watch Dom and Brian haul the damn thing to the car, little Vince trailing after them cheerfully.

They'd dug the old decorations and ornaments out of the attic and Mia had sighed fondly over every other item she unwrapped, sharing memories from her childhood until Letty claimed that motherhood had turned her into a giant sap and made a gagging face at her. Maybe Christmas music hadn't been piping out of the stereo, but there had been laughter in the house, and love.

Vincent had counted every gift that appeared under the tree, finding particular glee every time he spotted his name on one of the tags. At four years old he was certainly the most excited member of the family on Christmas morning.

A fact that became even clearer when he woke up his parents by bodily jumping on them at 5 am, his excitement overwhelming the irritation of little feet to the ribs. Mia stumbled downstairs to start coffee while he ran across the hallway to wake up his Aunt and Uncle.

"Unca Dom Unca Dom wake up!" he shouted, reaching up to pat his Uncle's face with a little hand. Mommy had said it wasn't polite to get into other people's beds first thing in the morning, though truthfully that had more to do with her worrying that her son might be scarred for life after catching them in some state of undress.

He was excited and almost forgot, leaning against the bed and bouncing against the mattress as his Uncle groaned and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Unca Dom get up!"

"Yeah… I'm awake buddy. Why don't you head downstairs… we'll be right down."

Vince turned and ran from the room and Letty rolled over, blowing her dark hair out of her face. "I'm almost wishing for the days when they're teenagers and don't think 5 am exists unless they've been up all night."

Dom groaned again. "Don't say that. I am happy with 5 am wake ups because I don't have to worry about boyfriends and bad behavior."

She laughed, sliding out of bed with a yawn and heading for the bathroom.

"I'll get the baby and meet you downstairs," he said, sitting up. "I can already smell Mia's cooking."

"Mmm..." she agreed, splashing water into her face. "Christmas morning French toast."

A few minutes later when she walked into the kitchen the others were all gathered around the table. Mia was setting the syrup down next to a plate of bacon and offered her a smile. She wore green pajama pants with little elves all over them and Letty eyed them for a long moment before laughing.

"Sexy sleepwear there, Mi."

"Sorry that my style doesn't tend to garage casual and men's clothing like you," Mia snarked back with a smirk, sticking her tongue out at her sister in law.

"Girls," Dom interrupted, settling his daughter in her high chair. "I thought you were supposed to be adults now."

"Mami," the baby babbled kicking her little feet gleefully.

"That's right, mija," Letty said, ruffling her daughter's curls fondly. "You hungry?"

The toddler grinned up at her from her chair, chubby hands reaching for the cup Dom set on the tray. "Toas! Toas!"

"Aunt Mia's getting your toast," Dom assured her, moving to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"She's such a little talker," Mia said as she cut up a half a piece of French toast into little bites and put it onto a little plate with some peaches. "Vince didn't say as many words at this age."

"Every kid is different," Brian input.

"It's just funny because neither Letty nor Dom are that big of talkers. They'd rather sit there and just listen. And god forbid trying to get them to talk about anything when you bring up the dreaded F-word." She smirked at their looks. "Feelings."

She placed the plate before her niece with a smile. "Here you go, Sweetheart."

"Mi-a! Mi-a!" the child sing-songed, reaching for her food before shoving a piece of toast in her mouth. "Toas. Ma-mi…. "She wiggled in her chair, kicking out her little feet. Her dark eyes watched curiously as Vincent rolled a little blue hotwheels across the kitchen table, forking his own piece of toast into his mouth.

She scooped up a peach and pointed with a messy hand. "Caw. Cawwo…. Papi?"

Vince glanced at her with the slightly suffering gaze of a "big boy" and crunched a piece of bacon. "Can we open pwesents now?"

"You haven't even finished your breakfast," Brian said with a laugh. "We'll open them after everyone is done."

The little boy sighed then shoveled his food into his mouth as fast as possible, ignoring his mother's scolding. He dumped his plate into the sink with the declaration of "I'm done!" and ran into the living room to inspect and shake every gift there.

"You remember every being _that_ excited to open gifts on Christmas morning?" Letty asked, staring after her nephew.

"Yeah," Mia said with a laugh. "I loved Christmas as a kid."

"Not me," Letty replied, chewing idly on a piece of bacon. "After my Dad died they all sucked. Till I started practically living here."

A silence fell around the table and Dom wrapped his arm around his wife, drawing her against him.

"Down! Papi down!" the toddler broke the silence and all heads turned towards her as she kicked in her high chair. They laughed.

"I guess we're done," Dom said, standing up to release his daughter from the chair. He wiped her face and hands with a towel and carried her into the living room where Vince was counting how many gifts were his.

After piling the rest of the dishes in the sink, for later – it was Christmas morning after all, the others joined them in gift giving.

There was more laughter, plenty of practical jokes between the adults, a lot more fond memories, and Mia with her camera practically glued to her hand. And though Mia had taunted that her niece's favorite gift of the night would probably be an empty box, the remote control car came up as the winner.

Just barely.


	10. A Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Letty finds out she is pregnant.

Not that she would have told anyone, but it was her boobs that first made her suspicious. She wasn't puking her brains out in the toilet every morning or feeling overly fatigued. But she was feeling different. Like her body wasn't really her own. And she started noticing the weight she was gaining despite no changes in her level of activity or eating habits.

At first she'd just wondered if it was a side-effect of getting older, but she'd quickly dismissed it. Her mother still had a great body, despite treating it like shit, after all. She was also certain Dom had noticed, and he confirmed that one night lying in bed when he asked if her boobs had gotten bigger. She'd punched him in the shoulder and rolled over, but it had stuck in her mind. He'd notice, after all. He spent a lot of time looking at them.

So this afternoon she'd cut out of the garage early, stopped by the drug store before heading home. She was in the bathroom, t-shirt pulled up, examining her belly in the mirror. Turning sideways, frowning and tilting her head. Maybe she was just imagining things.

Well, only one way to know for certain. Eying the test in disdain she read the instructions twice before taking it. She used both in the package, just in case, and let them sit while she waited the required five minutes. She paced from the bathroom into the bedroom and back again, checked the time on her cellphone before wandering back into the bedroom and flopping face down into the mattress.

She let out a long breath, trying to relax and not think too hard about it. After all, there was no guarantee she even was. And even if she _was_ , then what was the problem? She was married to a man she loved. A man she'd been with for half her life. She knew he wanted kids, even though they hadn't really formally talked about it. And maybe it wasn't ideal that it was happening only about six months after they'd been married. But it wasn't like they'd had to get used to living together, or find out all the new unpleasant things that many newlyweds had to. They already knew each others bad habits and dark secrets. Every skeleton in the closet.

She laid there until she heard the sound of a car engine and then the front door opening. Heavy footsteps on the stairs. She lifted her head slightly as the door creaked open. The bed sagged under the weight as Dom sat down at the foot, easing off his boots.

"You okay?"

"Fine," she mumbled, pushing herself to sit up.

He leaned over to kiss her and then smiled, standing and tugging shirt off over his head. Dropping it to the floor he crossed to the bathroom. She watched him disappear through the doorway only to come back out a few minutes later, holding one of the tests in his hand.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"I don't know. Do I?"

"I think so," he said, passing her the test with a digital Positive reading on the end.

"Surprise?" she ventured weakly, staring at it as if the results might change.

Dom laughed, sitting beside her. "Good surprise?"

"Yeah…" she began. "Yeah. I think so. Do you?"

"Of course!"

She smiled and then laughed when he stood, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, grinning against his lips.

"So," he murmured, drawing back. "A baby."

"Yeah," she sighed, laying her head against his shoulder. "We never talked about it, really."

"I guess not," he agreed. "You a little freaked out here, Mami?"

She chuckled, slapping at his back. "More than a little. I mean… I never really pictured myself as a mom."

"There's never been anything you couldn't do if you set your mind to it."

She grinned, nuzzling at his ear. "Careful. You'll feed my ego."

"That's my job. The next few months. To build your Mami ego."

Letty smirked. "Is that right?"

"Mmm hmm. So by the time this baby comes you're totally confident that you'll be a great Mom."

Flushing slightly, she buried her face against his shoulder. "You're such a fucking sap."

"Hey cut me a break here." He laughed, squeezing her hips. "I think I'm allowed to be a little bit sappy about my first child."

"Okay, okay." She relented, feeling happy. "But unless you feel like celebrating up against a wall would you mind putting me down?"

He did set her down, though on the bed, laying her back before leaning down to kiss her slowly. He grinned then suddenly, his gaze dropping to her chest.

"I _knew_ your boobs were bigger."


	11. A Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids grow up to find out about their parents' pasts.

It was Tuesday and one of her short days at school. That meant the house was all hers until her parents closed the garage at eight. That meant she could play her music as loud as she wanted. She hooked her iPod to the stereo system, cranked it up and swung her hips as she danced her way up the stairs.

She'd just come from kick-boxing class, so her sweaty clothes were balled on the floor of the bathroom as she cranked the water up to hot, hot, hot.

"Tiene dentro esa chispa que quema transistores…" she sang along as she stepped under the spray, feeling the bass thump through the house.

A squirt of cucumber and apple body wash on her loofa. The bathroom filled with fragrance as she worked the sweet pea shampoo into her hair, humming and singing off key. The iPod had shuffled through half a playlist and the bathroom was full of steam before she heard the sound of the front door slamming open.

Cursing under her breath the young woman turned off the water and hastily wrung out her hair, grabbing a towel to wrap around her body. Annoyed that her time had been intruded upon she called down the stairs.

"I wasn't expecting you guys for hours!"

She couldn't hear the reply over her music so she went to her room to dress, pulling on a pair of ripped up jeans and a black t-shirt from the last concert she'd attended. Leaving her hair wet and down her back she hurried for the stairs, swinging into the living room to turn off the music. She frowned and looked around.

"Hello?"

"In here!" her cousin's voice called from the kitchen, and the young woman furrowed her brows, stepping into the room.

There she found him with a beat up dirty old box on the table and a folder in his hands.

She groaned. "Vince, do you have to bring your work here? Don't you have your own apartment now?"

"It's not work," he said seriously, looking at her. "I think you should sit down."

She eyed him for a long moment, then walked around him to get a couple of beers from the fridge. She popped the tops, passing him one before she dropped into a chair. "Really man, what is this shit?" She took a long drink and nodded to the box.

"Well… " he sighed, sipping his own beer. "I was going through my mom's old stuff in the attic because I got a bug up my ass and decided I ought to frame all my degrees and put them up at my new place." He rubbed a hand through his blonde hair, fluffing the curls up comically. It was darker now than when he'd been a kid, but still bleached gold in the summer sun.

"Anyway," he continued. "I found this box up there. It was unmarked and I was curious-"

"Big surprise," she interrupted drily, earning herself a look.

"You wouldn't believe what's in here. It's all stuff from years ago. Before we were born. Apparently my Dad worked as a cop for a while, here in LA, and then later as an FBI agent."

"What?" she gaped. "Why wouldn't he tell us that?"

"Because," he said, tossing a file down on the table between them. "He was working on a case against your Dad. Well… at least the first time."

Vince watched as his cousin reached for the file, snatching it up and flipping it open. There were pages, mug shots, and pictures of trucks. Inventory lists, car specs… She stared at them, flipping through in disbelief.

"Holy shit," she murmured.

"Yeah," he replied. "And it gets worse." He passed her another file. "After my Dad apparently let them get away on the truck jackings your Dad was tied to a lot of suspicious behavior outside of the states. They were stealing gas off moving trucks. I'm not even kidding." He held up his hands at her look. "Your Mom showed up and got involved in an undercover job to bring in some huge drug runner named Braga a few years later. That's when my Dad was with the FBI, and he was the one running her. The file says she _died_ ," he hissed, flipping it open to the pictures of several people, including her mother's all labeled as presumed dead. Her eyes were wide, confusion in them.

"But she's obviously not dead," she muttered. "And my Dad isn't in prison and _your_ dad isn't a cop or FBI!" She tossed the papers at him. "Is this some kind of sick joke, V? Because I don't think it's very funny!"

"I'm not joking with you!" he shouted back. "Our parents have been lying to us our whole lives. Look, I always knew I wasn't born here in the US. I was born in Brazil. I never really understood why, and I guess I never thought to ask. Everything about my life that I remember is right here in LA. But our parents spent years on the run, living in other countries. After your Mom was labeled as dead the files get really sketchy. My Dad made notes about taking down Braga, and about getting your Dad's help. He said he was going to try and get the feds to make a deal for him. But he didn't."

He produced a few more sheets of paper, these newer looking. "So I did some digging. I found all these articles online." He passed them to her and she took them gingerly, reading the first headline.

"They broke him out of prison?"

"Right. And then I tracked them to Rio. They pulled off some crazy shit there too. Their friend Vince died there…"

"That's who you're named for?" she murmured softly, looking at him.

"Yeah. I mean, Mom told me about him and all but she never said how he died. Just that it was an accident."

"Yeah but that's not the weirdest thing here. How did my mother come back from the dead?"

"She's clearly a zombie," Vince deadpanned and she socked him hard in the arm. "Ow!"

"Don't be an ass, V!"

"She turned up again in Europe years later. There's stories about this guy Owen who apparently was brought down by some American agency but I think that our parents probably helped. And it wasn't long after that they came back to LA and settled down. Your Mom now with them and obviously alive."

She flipped through the papers with a sigh. "You're definitely going to be a great detective, Vincent."

"Yeah but now I get why my parents were so startled when that's what I decided I wanted to do with my life," he laughed a little, rubbing a hand over his face. "It's like our parents had their childhoods… and their teenage years… then just this big gap that they never told us about. And then they came back to LA and started fresh. Why wouldn't they tell us?"

"Maybe because they really did want a fresh start. Maybe they didn't want that part of their lives to touch us."

"I guess," he admitted, staring down at the box of files and papers scattered across the table and the floor. "But can we pretend we never saw this? I don't know that I can."

"No… I guess we need to talk to them about it." She sighed, then smiled. "Because they need to know that we love them no matter what they did back then." She paused then, picking up one of the files. "And actually… it's kind of damn impressive."


	12. A Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daughter is caught drag racing and brought home by the cops.

It was after 2 am on a Friday night when the doorbell rang. Now, there was certainly a time in Dom's life when he would have been awake at that time of night, and sometimes he even still was. There'd been a lot of times when he wouldn't have even been home at 2 in the morning, but those times were now generally few and far between.

He didn't like to think about it as him getting more mature or responsible. But the truth of the matter was once you became a parent you started to have higher priorities than parties or street races, drinking with the boys or hitting the clubs. When it was a matter of having to go to bed before midnight to have to deal with 5 am wake ups and later 7:30 school bells.

So really, he shouldn't have been all that surprised when the doorbell rang at 2 am and it was his daughter's fault. Blinking into the darkness of his bedroom he stared up at the ceiling and wondered what had woken him up. Letty was curled on her side of the bed; sheets around her waist, bare back glowing caramel in the moonlight that filtered through the window. She either hadn't heard the bell or was feigning sleep until he dealt with it. He was willing to bet the latter.

The bell rang again and she turned her head to look at him, eyes liquid and dark in the faint light. "20 bucks says your daughter did something bad," she mumbled.

" _My_ daughter? I'm pretty sure when she's bad it's all you, Let."

"Yeah right," she pressed her face into the pillow. "Aren't you going to go take care of that? I'm not dressed."

He stood up, smacking her bare ass so that she yelped and tugged the blankets up over herself. Grumbling he tugged on some pants over his boxers and pulled a t-shirt over his head as he headed down the stairs towards the front door. He pulled it open and stared warily at the uniformed police officer in front of him. The man was short, but stocky and broad-shouldered, a Latino man with close-cut hair and a faint scar along his jaw. He smiled disarmingly and Dom glanced past him to the patrol car parked in front of the house. He could see his daughter sitting inside it, sulking. He sighed.

"Mr. Toretto?" the man asked.

"Yeah. What'd she do?"

"We caught her and some other young people drag racing down by the train tracks," the officer explained, passing him a slip of paper. "The car's been impounded for the night. You can collect it tomorrow."

Dom groaned, running a hand over his face wearily. He didn't even want to look at how much it was going to cost to get the vehicle released. "All right. Thank you officer."

"Now, I could have held your daughter overnight in the county jail-" he began.

"Yeah well thanks for bringing her home, Officer," Dom interrupted carefully. "I assure you that her mother and I will deal with her."

The man frowned briefly, studying him. "I'll take your word for that Mr. Toretto. But if she gets caught again I can't guarantee leniency."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, his jaw set.

The officer turned and walked back to the car, letting the teenager out of the back. She hesitated by the side of the patrol vehicle, staring down at the sidewalk like she might rather stay there than go into her house and deal with her father. Dom couldn't say he blamed her all that much. The police man said something that spurred her into action and she hurried up the walk double-time, ducking into the doorway past him. Dom nodded towards the cop as he pulled away, and then tugged the door shut behind him.

His daughter was already halfway up the stairs. Very sneaky.

"No you don't," he said sharply, and she froze, staring down at her feet. "Get your ass back down here."

She turned and sulked back down the steps, still not looking up. Her long dark hair was a mess of waves falling in front of her face and her shoulders were sagging under the studded black leather jacket she wore.

"Look," he sighed after a minute. "I'm not going to lecture you on racing your car. It would be hypocritical as hell. But you really don't want to be pulling any overnighters at jail, do you?"

"No," she managed, glancing up at him warily.

"So if you're going to race, then stick to one race. Don't drag on an empty street in the middle of the night because you're going to get caught. Especially if you don't have someone scanning for police signals."

"Dad?" she squeaked. "What?"

He gave her a look. "Just don't get caught." He tossed the paper he still held in his hands at her. "And if you want your car back you're working at the garage every day after school _and_ weekends for the next month."

"Dad!" She pouted, grabbing at the paper. "Weekends?"

"You think you get your car out of the impound lot for free?"

"Well… no."

"So, next time don't get caught."

She nodded glumly.

"Now get your ass into bed. You're up in time to get your car before we go to the garage at 10."

She groaned and trudged up the stairs. Dom sighed, cut the lights, and then followed, heading back to his own room. He stripped and climbed into bed. Letty rolled over to watch him.

"So?" she asked.

"Got caught racing at the tracks. Car's impounded."

"Shit," she muttered. "Not even 17 and she's already been escorted home by the cops."

He smirked, pulling her into his arms. "Yeah but at least we didn't have to drive down and bail her out or something."

"Yeah, yeah, give it a couple years," she muttered, yawning.

He could only smile and shake his head as he closed his eyes. "Let's hope not, baby. We're going to be the only criminals in this family."


	13. A Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little girl has a nightmare.

Letty rolled over in bed with a yawn, stirred out of her sleep by the tiny tapping against the door. She rubbed a hand over her face, reaching down to snag one of Dom's t-shirts off the floor. She tugged it over her head, wiggled into a pair of panties and nudged her husband awake as she climbed over him out of bed. He grunted and rolled over before snatching at the boxers she threw over his face. He gave her a look and she raised her brow when the tiny knock on the door came again.

This time followed by a little voice. "Mami?" and a few pathetic sniffles.

Understanding, he tugged the boxers on before she eased the door open. Her daughter's little face peered up at her in the dark hallway, hair a riot of sleep-tossed curls around a round face. Dark eyes shiny with tears. She rubbed her hands over her face, clutching her plushy ninja turtle under one arm, then reached up to be held, lower lip quivering.

Letty scooped her into her arms, even though at 4 years old the girl was becoming more independent and less likely to want to be carried anywhere. "What's wrong, mija?"

She clung to her mother, little hands clutching at her shoulders as tears rolled down her face. "I was asweep… and scawy things happened. I saw scawy things Mami."

Letty hugged her daughter gently, using her hip to close the door before she carried her over to the bed. Dom was sitting up now, watching them quietly. He reached out to rub the girl's little back.

"Have a nightmare?" he asked.

"That's what it sounds like," Letty replied, easing her daughter away from where she was burrowed against her chest. "You want to tell Mami and Papi about the scary things?"

She sat with the little girl on her lap and the child rubbed her eyes, sniffing up at them.

"Dere was monstews," she said. "Scawy and gwey and like a big cwoud of smoke." She gestured with her tiny hands. "We was dwiving away from the monstews. And the caw was noisy and we kepts goin' but the monstew wouldn't go away." Her dark eyes were wide with horror now. "And then it catched me and I was scawed and I waked up!"

"It was just a bad dream," Letty assured. "It wasn't real."

"Pwomise?"

"I promise," she smiled. "Besides, if it was real there's no way that monster would catch us. Who drives faster than Papi?"

"No one," the little girl announced, and then grinned, launching herself into his arms. He laughed and caught her, pressing a kiss atop her curls.

"That's right," he told her, wrapping his arms around her. "So they're not so scary anymore huh?"

She looked uncertain. "But… maybe dey come back when I faww asweep."

"I don't think they'll come back," Dom said, rubbing her little back. "And you're going to have to sleep if you want to come to the garage with Mami and me tomorrow."

The child pouted, seemingly at a loss. "But… I scawed," she admitted.

"Do you want to sleep here? With Mami and Papi?" Letty asked cautiously. The child perked up immediately, scooting out of her father's lap to curl up in the middle of the bed happily. She hugged her turtle against her chest.

"Sweep hewe," she chirped, yawning big.

Letty gave Dom a sheepish smile and lay back down on her side of the bed. Their daughter turned to curl against her, little arms wrapping around her waist and clinging on. Letty raised her brows, lifting her lashes to meet the amused gaze of her husband. She made a face at him.

"C'mere," he murmured, and she scooted into his arms, shifting the child against her more comfortably. The little girl mumbled, already half asleep, and burrowed close.

Letty settled back against him, her head pillowed against his chest, listening to the sound of his heart-beat. Their daughter lay curled against her, breath warm against her shoulder, deep and even as she slipped into an easy sleep. Now feeling safe and content the child's exhaustion won out. Dom pressed a kiss to her ear.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered, laughing and she elbowed him lightly before closing her eyes. No more monsters tonight. Except maybe their little monster.


	14. A Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teenage daughter gets into a fight at school. Please note I do not condone fighting but realistically it does happen.

She had never liked Maggie Liu. Not since the first day of kindergarten when they'd found themselves sitting across from each other after the teacher had arranged groups. Maggie had scrunched up her little nose, ruffled pink dress and ribbons in her shiny hair. She'd asked why any girl would dress like a boy on purpose. Why any girl liked stupid boy things like batman and cars?

She'd hated little miss pink ruffles and ribbons and her nasty bad attitude off the bat. It hadn't helped any that when her mother had come to pick her up after school she'd found herself face to face with little Maggie again, and an older, snobbier version of her. She still remembered it; her mother dressed in baggy pants and a tank top, greasy from working on engines at the shop all day. And Maggie's mother, primly dressed in a narrow knee-length black skirt and a pink silk blouse. Her high heels had been pink and covered in sequins and the two women had eyed one another with mutual disdain.

_"Why, if it isn't little… Leticia Ortiz," the woman had laughed. "Don't tell me this is your daughter?"_

_Her mother had smiled that kind of smile that scares you when you look at it. Like she was trying not to bite the woman's head off but she wasn't really trying to be nice._

_"Vivian Tran," she'd replied, the words clipped and cool._

_"Actually… it's Liu now," Vivian had smiled, just like a shark. "But, you weren't exactly invited to the wedding."_

_"Like I would have come," Letty had muttered, rolling her eyes._

_"Mami," she'd interrupted, tugging at her mother's pants. "Let's go to the garage. Pwease?"_

_"How cute," Vivian had drawled, her voice sugary sweet. "She's a little gearhead just like you."_

_"And her father," her mother had said pointedly. That had made Vivian fume silently, though she hadn't understood why then. Letty smiled again, all too sweetly, before taking her daughter's hand. "Let's go, mija. Before the eau de tramp in the air makes Mami sick."_

She hadn't understood that either, but hadn't asked, just stared back over her shoulder as her mother led her to the car, glaring across the lot at the little pink ruffles and turned up nose of Miss Maggie Liu.

The girls' rivalry had only gotten worse through the years. Though the school had rearranged classes to avoid them being together after a few little incidents, they still traded insults on the playground. In high school it only escalated, as the teenage girl attitude caught up with their mutual dislike for one another. Maggie enjoyed egging her on and she would always rise to the challenge.

It wasn't until sophomore year that they came to physical blows. It started out like any other morning. Trevor, her best friend Liana's older brother, had swung by on their way to school to pick her up. He drove a pick-up truck, and she didn't think it was the best car, or the fastest. She thought the car she and her parents had been fixing up in their spare time was really the best car. But she couldn't drive it until she had her license and she was still 8 months and 16 days away from that.

So a ride with Trev and Lia was a hell of a lot better than getting dropped off by mom and dad, or taking the bus.

Of course, Maggie Liu got a ride from her cousin Michael, and his car was a Mercedes. Not that she was really that impressed by expensive luxury vehicles. In fact she was more apt to sneer at someone tooling around in a BMW. Enjoy your smooth ride, Richie, because I'm going to leave you in my dust. That was all she could think.

But Maggie was impressed with her ride, or her cousin's ride. And she liked to let everyone know it. And let them know how rich she was, and how pretty she thought she was. And the fact that she'd gotten her boobs when she was 14 (though lots of people thought she'd bought them). She also liked to point out the failings of those she did not like.

Maggie did not like her.

The feeling was mutual.

So at 7:45 in the morning when they both stepped out of their respective rides in front of school it was a surprise to no one when they stared each other down. Maggie in her ruby red mini skirt, black flats and white sweater was staring at her from beneath her overpriced sunglasses, a sneer on her lips. She sneered back, hands on her hips, black skinny jeans and shit-kicking boots, purple t-shirt her parents had brought back from Mexico. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and eyed Maggie.

"What's that smell? Did you borrow some of that eau de tramp from your mother?"

"Very funny, Toretto. I'm surprised you can smell anything over all the grease you're covered in," Maggie replied.

"I'd rather smell like a car than cum," she snarked and Lia gasped at her side.

"Shut your mouth, bitch," Maggie fumed, hands curling into fists. "Just because you're too flat-chested to get any boys to notice you!"

"Excuse me?" Eyebrow arched and she was in Maggie's face. "I don't need fake breasts to get guys to notice me. Because they actually like me."

"My boobs are not fake!" Maggie screeched and then her hands were in her hair, yanking painfully. There were shouts of 'Fight!' in the background as the two girls went down, nails and fists and screaming and hair-pulling.

One broken nose, two bloodied lips, a black eye and scratched-up arms later, the two teenagers sat sullenly and silently beside one another in the Principal's office. A bag of ice pressed against her swollen nose, Maggie was staring stonily at the wall.

Both girls looked up when Letty appeared in the doorway, but Maggie quickly looked away. The other teen quietly gathered her things and followed her mother out of the building. They walked through the hallways in silence. Her lip was stinging and she was annoyed at the red scratches all over her arms that looked like she'd been mauled by a wildcat. But that was nothing compared to the fear at the reaming out she was going to get from her mother.

She still hadn't said anything as they walked across the parking lot and she unlocked the car. Letty slid into the driver's side and her daughter gingerly sat in the passenger's seat. She looked at her expectantly but Letty only started up the car, causing the teenager to groan and tilt her head back.

"Mami! Aren't you going to yell at me for getting into a fight?"

"Hell no," Letty replied, pulling out of the lot. "It was totally worth two day's suspension. You broke that little bitch's nose and gave her a black eye."

The girl stared at her mother, mouth open and eyes wide. "What..?"

"Besides, your father is going to give you hell when we get back to the garage," Letty added, smirking as her daughter's face fell. "But, as far as I'm concerned… She probably deserved it."


	15. A Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little girl's birthday.

It was her third birthday, and that was super important. At least as far as she was concerned. It meant she got to have a party just for her, and her aunt would make her favorite foods and Mami would buy her an ice cream cake. She got to have lots of presents and she was super excited about that part. She tried to be patient but the presents were the first thing she asked about when she woke up, and her father had laughed and told her 'later' before letting her pick out her very own birthday girl outfit.

Though she'd wanted her black jeans Papi said it was going to be way too hot, so she selected her red shorts and the batman t-shirt that had been passed down from her cousin Vince when he got too big for it. She'd left her feet bare, and run off to find her Mami to get her hair brushed. She sat on Mami and Papi's big bed, swinging her legs and singing her birthday song as her mother combed her hair carefully. Mami was the best at combing hair. She never tugged too hard or hurt her when there were knots. Mami said Papi didn't know how to brush hair cause he didn't have any, and that had made her giggle.

"What do you want for your birthday breakfast?" Mami asked as she set the comb aside.

She was thoughtful, sprawling on her belly on the bed. She swung her feet but Mami grabbed them, tickling her until she squealed and rolled over, curling up into a ball.

"Mami no!" she giggled and squeaked until her mother relented. Breathlessly, the little girl pushed herself off the bed.

"Want pancakes fow bweakfast!" she announced, and then ran out of the room.

Papi was already in the kitchen with his coffee and he got her a cup of juice while Mami mixed up the pancake batter.

"It's going to be a hot day," he said. "Do you want Papi to set up the pool for your party?"

"Yeah!" she cheered as she climbed into her chair at the table. She was a big girl and didn't have to sit in her high chair anymore.

Mami made her pancake heart-shaped and put extra chocolate chips in it which made her very excited when it was set down on the table before her. She was halfway through with breakfast when the doorbell rang and her mother stood up.

"Your sister and her need to be early to everything," she commented to her husband who only laughed and shrugged. She went out of the kitchen and through the living room to the front door. The birthday girl paused in her eating to listen to the voices filtering in from the other room. She could hear her uncle laughing when Mami commented that they were always ridiculously early. Her cousin Vincent was the first one to wander into the kitchen. He was carrying bags of presents and she eyed them with interest. But Papi took them away from Vince and brought them into another room, a secret hiding place so she wouldn't start peeking before it was time to open them.

When her breakfast was nothing more than a few smears of chocolate on the plate she jumped down from her seat, announcing that she was all done. She went into the other room to find Vince to play with. He was her cousin and he was three years older than her, but he still played with her whenever their families got together (which was lots). He got to go to school and he had lots of other friends already. Sometimes she got jealous of that. But then she remembered she'd rather be at the garage with Mami and Papi than at some stupid school place.

Vince was with Aunt Mia and Mami pulling things out of a box. There were streamers and packages of balloons, and ribbons. Her favorite colors red and blue were in everything.

"V!" she hollered, tackling him from behind, her arms banding around his neck. She pulled him over onto the floor with her and he groaned and rolled around playfully.

"Augh, a monster got me!" he cried. She giggled and roared at him, tickling him with tiny fingers. He laughed and rolled away, scampering past their amused mothers and running through the kitchen. She raced after him, crawling underneath Uncle Brian's legs where he stood at the back door. Papi was outside hauling the inflatable pool from the shed. Music was playing from the old CD player set up off the porch. She and Vince ran circles around Papi and Uncle Brian as they set up the pool and she sang a little song about going swimming.

Soon, Aunt Mia came outside to put balloons and streamers around and set up the table. Uncle Roman soon arrived with his new girlfriend, and she wasn't so interested in her, just the big box she carried, all wrapped in red with racecars on it. But Mami took that away and hid it too and she may have pouted just a little until Vince tugged at her arm and told her to get on her swim suit.

She dug her favorite one out of her bottom dresser drawer and shed her clothes hastily. She wiggled into the swim suit, snapping the straps over her shoulders. She looked in the mirror to make sure it was on the right way. Sometimes she still put it on backwards. This one was her favorite even though Mami called it her 'girly swimsuit'. It was red with dark blue polka dots and a little frill of skirt at the sides. But it was still her favorite colors, and Aunt Mia had bought it for her special.

By the time she came back downstairs Uncle Hector was there with his daughter Ana. She was only one and a half and she was always dressed in pink, but it was nice to have someone other than Vince to play with. She danced around Uncle Hector and he laughed and said she was getting so big, which made her grin. Papi had the grill started up and Uncle Brian had finished filling the pool. Vince was already in it, splashing water at his father who scolded him in return.

Cheering she raced across the yard to dive in, hitting them both with a big splash.

She was playing so happily she hardly noticed more people arriving. Lots of Mami and Papi's friends. Lots of pretty, noisy fast cars lining the street and crowding up the driveway. She abandoned the pool, scampering across the crowded lawn and giggling whenever someone commented about the birthday girl or how big she had gotten. She left wet footprints down the driveway, trailing her little hand along the sides of the cars lined there, stared at her reflection in the gleaming metal rims.

"Vroom, vroom," she mimicked, circling around past high performance exhaust systems and shock absorbers. Eyeing spoilers and flame decals along the sides, admiring a grill polished to a shine. She was on her tippy toes, nose pressed against a window, trying to see inside when Papi found her in front of the house.

"What are you doing?" he laughed. "You're missing your party."

She looked up at him, huge dark eyes and innocent face. "Papi? I get caw fow birf-day?"

"Maybe some hot wheels," he said, scooping her up to hold her easily in one of his strong arms. "As for something to drive, give us another ten years before you start asking for that, Sweetheart."

"Why?" she asked, pouting as she let him carry her back towards the yard.

He laughed again, shaking his head. "Because you're a shrimp. You wouldn't be able to reach the pedals."

"Oh," she lamented, because he was right.

"Come on now, no pouting on your birthday," he said, pressing a noisy kiss against her cheek that made her giggle and squirm in his arms.

There was neither time nor reason to pout at all. Family and friends had made a loud gathering, laughing around the table as they passed around food. The ice cream cake was shaped like a car and all in red. And it had a candle shaped like the number 3 on top. She blew it out, scrunching her eyes tightly shut as she made her wish.

After cake there were piles and piles of presents. Lots of hotwheels, some new clothes (less exciting), the newest Disney movie, and a race car game she could play with her tablet. Mami and Papi got her a tricycle, all red with silver streamers on the handles. She knew she could make it go fast down the sidewalk and wanted to play with it right away, pushing it across the lawn to the driveway, bare feet braced on the pedals. She leaned forward, "Vroom, vroom!" and took off.

And for this birthday, having a car was, briefly, forgotten.


	16. A Fixer Upper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting their daughter's first car.

Though her mother and father attended a lot of car auctions in LA and the surrounding areas, this was the first time she'd gotten to go with them. Often they were there to get cheap cars for parts, especially older model vehicles that weren't made anymore. They went early; her father explained that the morning was when they could preview all the cars, check out the insides and under the hoods and write down the numbers of the cars that she liked. Because she knew they were getting her car, or what would be her car when she could finally drive, she was out of bed on time, showered, dressed and ready to go by 8 am.

They piled into her father's car and he drove them to the site of the auction, an old shipping warehouse about an hour outside of town. Her mother cautioned her that she might not find anything she'd like this time.

"We can come to more," she explained, turning the radio down. "So don't go forcing yourself to choose a car you don't really love. They have these auctions all the time."

She nodded, too excited to even speak. She was sure she'd find the car for her. She had a feeling about it.

When they arrived she stared at the rows and rows of cars parked in the large lot. There were chain fences and a guard monitoring the arrivals at the gate. He charged them the small admittance fee and gave them a parking pass, signaling them to drive down to the other lot which was mostly empty at this time.

They parked and got out of the car, and then her father led the way along the outside of the building. He indicated the different sections of vehicles in the lot.

"The best stuff is inside, so it will sell for the most. We'll take a look, but I'm willing to bet that if you're going to find a good deal it will be out here."

She nodded, eyes wide. All the cars looked new from here, sun gleaming off shiny paint-jobs. But she knew that someone had made them look good for the auction, in the hopes they might sell for more money.

They went into the warehouse, where a small trickle of people was winding their way through rows of cars. Hoods were propped open to show engines, each car marked with a number painted on the windshield. She walked past some newer vehicles, makes of this year or the one before. They were getting the most attention, but she only glanced at them as she walked past. If she wanted a brand new car she could buy one from a dealership.

A tour of the warehouse showed some promise, but nothing more than vaguely interesting. She was antsy to explore the massive lot outdoors and led the way, ignoring her parents' conversation behind her.

Here the cars varied from less attractive models to older cars, from cars with a lot of mileage to vehicles that had been in wrecks.

There were less people milling about here, and once the sun came up and it got hot there would be even less. She wove between the rows carefully, pausing here and there. Her parents wandered in another direction, pointing out cars to one another. It made sense that they would also pick up some things for the shop while they were here.

Towards the end of one of the rows she spotted the front end of a unique looking vehicle. This one wasn't gleaming, painted only a dull sort of grey that was used on cars when they were being repaired. She could see from this distance that the driver's side headlight was missing and the fender was bent. Biting down on her lower lip she glanced over to see her parents bent over the hood of a car a few rows away. Turning, she made her way down towards the vehicle that had caught her eye.

In comparison to the other cars she'd seen so far, it wasn't pretty. Grey and battered, missing the back bumper. The passenger door was dented and scratched and the front windshield was cracked. She could see inside that the leather seats were old, worn and ripped up, cracked by weathering and faded from the sun.

But that wasn't what caught her eye. Rather it was the distinctive appearance; bullet shaped with a long front end and inset round headlights. The sweeping curve of the frame as it dropped down to the short trunk. Two doors and tiny triangular front windows. This wreck was a 1969 Shelby Mustang. She wanted to climb in and get behind the wheel, close her eyes and imagine driving this baby down to the beach, windows open and sea air blowing through her hair, engine purring.

Oh yeah. She wanted this car.

She was still admiring it when her parents wandered up, looking it over.

"Body needs work," her mother commented. "But not too bad for a classic car. We should take a look under the hood."

Dom agreed, leaning over to pop it open and the metal screeched in protest. The hood nearly came clean off, but he propped it up carefully and they looked inside. Engine was intact, though a great deal of the parts looked like they would need replacing. It would take a lot of time, and money to get the car drivable.

Her father glanced at her and she looked hopefully back at him. He sighed. "Fine. We'll put in a bid. But there's no guarantee that we'll get the car. So try not to get your hopes up."

She nodded, trying to take his caution to heart, but she fairly floated around the rest of the lot, ignoring the other cars and imagining driving her own beautiful car when she turned 16. She would paint it red, she thought to herself, as they filed back into the warehouse for the bidding to start.

It took hours, and she was glad her dad seemed to know what he was doing, because the whole process was confusing to her. When the Shelby came up for bidding she hunched down in her seat, trying not to get her hopes up.

It wasn't surprising that not much interest was taken in the car, given the shape it had been in, but one or two other classic car fans were interested, opening the bidding and raising it a bit. She had nearly resigned herself to not having the car when her father placed the last bid and after calling for more no one else raised their cards.

She was fairly skipping out the door when they left two hours later after paying. Her dad called the garage to arrange a tow, since that car wasn't going anywhere on its own power. It would probably take a lot of extra money, which she was expected to contribute to, and a lot of work, which she was also expected to contribute to. But the car would be ready for her to drive when she got her license.

She was fairly singing in the back seat on the way home and her mother was looking at her over her shoulder, amusement in her dark eyes.

"Someone's excited."

"I am. Thank you, Mami. Thank you, Papi. I'm so happy." She flopped onto her back in the back seat, laughing.

"Clearly," Letty commented. "You sound like an insane person."

"I'm an insanely lucky person, with insanely awesome parents," she replied.

"That's true," Dom agreed from the front seat.

"You're still working every weekday after school at the garage to help pay for your car and all its parts," Letty added, raising a brow.

"I know," she said. "But don't forget I need time for homework," she quipped.

"Oh you'll get plenty of time for homework," her father said. "That you can be sure of."

She was sure, but she found she didn't even care. She had a car. Hew own car. Now if only she could drive it.


	17. A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daughter goes on her first date.

"Don't you think 15 is a bit young for her to be dating?"

"No, Dom, I don't think 15 is too young. It's just a date. You're being overprotective." Letty rolled her eyes at her husband from where she was putting away their morning dishes.

"We don't know anything about this kid," he complained.

"His name is Jacob. She met him in shop class. He's a year ahead of her at school. His dad is an electrical engineer and his mother is a nurse," she remarked off-handedly from where she was rooting around in the fridge, her voice muffled.

He stared at her. "How do you know all that?"

"Maybe because our daughter isn't scared to tell me about boys she likes," she said airily and Dom tossed a dishcloth at her. It landed on her head and she smirked, tilting it so that the cloth slid off to fall on the floor. "Maybe if you weren't so overprotective Papa bear she'd have told you too."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you now." She laughed at the look on his face, turning to lean against the counter with one hip. "Don't pout. We'll meet him tonight."

She popped the top off of a beer and passed it to him. He took it, but seemed disinterested, a frown still on his face. "I don't like it."

"You won't like it no matter how old she is," she laughed, moving past him to sit at the table.

It wasn't long before the teenage daughter in question came down the stairs, wearing a dress of all things. Dom didn't even know she owned a dress. He hid his frown behind taking a drink of his beer.

She paused in the doorway, her dark eyes big and her cheeks flushed from what he could only assume was excitement or nerves.

"How do I look?" she asked, spinning around.

The dress was pretty, though not exactly innocent. For one thing it was tight, and way too short, in Dom's opinion. It was deep blue horizontal strips of satin fabric.

"You're not wearing that," he said flatly. "Go change."

She gaped at him and looked to her mother who only shook her head. "Girl, where'd you even get that dress?"

"At the mall with Liana," she replied, putting her hands stubbornly on her hips. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's too tight and too short," Dom replied. "Go change."

"Mom, tell him he's being unreasonable," the girl complained.

"He's right, Sweetheart. It's only a first date. Since when do you even like dresses?"

"Well I don't but aren't you supposed to wear them to dates?"

"No," her father said. "You aren't wearing that anywhere."

She sighed in exasperation and sulked up the stairs. "Now I don't know what to wear!" she complained back over her shoulder at them.

Letty rolled her eyes and followed after her. "I'll help you pick something out," she said.

Her daughter let her follow her into her room. There were posters of classic cars on the walls and pictures of her friends and family scattered over the top of the dresser and the bedside table. Her room was still in tones of blue and red as it had been when she was smaller, but there were more grown-up touches to it now. At the foot of the bed an old antique chest that had been a gift from her aunt. It was full of special memories, like the dress she'd worn for her Quinceañera, her baby photo album and her old ninja turtle plushy.

The teenager tugged off her dress and tossed it to the floor with a pile of dirty clothes, then opened her dresser, rifling through without looking for anything in particular. "Mami, I don't know what I'm supposed to wear," she moaned, and threw herself onto her bed.

Letty sighed at the dramatics and tried not to chuckle. "Where's he taking you?"

"Just to Ralph's for burgers and milkshakes… and a movie afterward."

"Geez girl you don't have to get dressed up for Ralph's. Just wear what you normally wear."

"But shouldn't I be worried about how I look?"

"Why?" Letty asked, tilting her head. "He likes you because of who you are, not the clothes you wear. You don't have to impress him."

"Is that how you thought when you went out with Dad for the first time?"

"Uh…" Letty hesitated, biting down on her lower lip. "Well… no it was different for us. I'd already known him a really long time. It was just… a matter of realizing that we liked each other in a different way than friendship."

"So you got dressed up for your first date?"

"No. It's that we didn't really… date. Not like we had a formal first date or anything. Just one day we… sort of admitted how we felt about each other and then we were together. We went out, but it wasn't all that different from how it had been before, for the most part."

"You mean aside from… sex?"

Letty groaned. "Really? You are asking about that?"

"No!" the girl cried, covering her ears. "I don't want you to tell me about that. I just mean… like when you're boyfriend and girlfriend that's what you do, right?"

"Not necessarily…" Letty began cautiously. "That all depends on how you feel about the other person and if you're ready for that. You really shouldn't rush that, mija."

"Oh, I know. I mean it's only the first date, Mami. Sheesh."

Wrinkling her nose the woman tossed a pair of jeans at her daughter. "Wear these. And that cute red top Aunt Mia bought you from San Diego."

"With the crisscross back?" the girl asked, wiggling into the snug jeans. They were low rise and black, skinny jeans. She pulled on the red top and then a pair of red and black gladiator sandals. She brushed out her hair then left it down. "Should I do makeup? I'm no good at it."

"Me neither," Letty said, but helped her apply some eyeliner and lip gloss before they both deemed it good.

By the time they came back downstairs Jacob had arrived to pick her up. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a black polo shirt and sitting at the table with Dom. The poor kid was probably scared shitless, but was doing his best to answer all of the man's questions. They both looked up when Letty appeared with her daughter behind her. The young man's eyes alighted on his friend and a smile spread across his face.

"Hey," he said. "You look great."

"Thanks," she replied, grinning back. "Uh… do you want to head out?"

"Yeah." He stood, reaching over to shake Dom's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Sir. I'll have her back before curfew."

"What curfew?" she asked, scowling at her father.

"Eleven," he said in reply.

"Papi!" She frowned, looking at him with those big eyes. "That's ridiculous. It's a Saturday."

"Dom," Letty added, bumping his shoulder with her hip. "How about 1?"

He frowned at her, eying the two teenagers for a long moment. "Midnight," he finally relented.

The girl sighed, but took what she could get, grabbing Jacob's hand and her wallet from the counter as she tugged him towards the door. "Thanks! See you guys!"

Letty shook her head and waved after her daughter. When the teens had shut the front door behind them she turned to her husband. "What did you say to that poor boy?"

"Just the usual," he said, pulling his wife into his lap.

"Oh yeah what's that?" she said, laughing as he kissed her throat.

"You break her heart; I'll break your neck."


	18. A Ditch Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ditching school to race.

It was the first day back to school after winter break. So of course, no one really wanted to be there. And the teachers knew it, as did the administrators and all the parents. Aside from a few irritants (ie: Maggie Liu) freshman year was shaping up just fine. She was doing well in her classes without working overly hard (except for in history class where the memorization of dates eluded her and the thought of doing research made her cringe).

So she'd been planning to go to class like a dutiful student and child when she was intercepted on her way to first period. She heard her name echo down the hall and turned slightly to see her friend Sammi running down the hall, her long black hair flying out behind her. She looked excited, and skittered to a halt beside her, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Come on! We're going to drive down to the beach road and drag race with some of the senior guys!"

"What?" She blinked at her. "Are you kidding? We can't even drive yet."

"It's okay! Theresa is going and she said I could drive her car. I'm sure she'll let you too! I mean, you already know how to drive, right?"

"Well yeah…" Theresa was Sammi's older sister and she was pretty chill. It always made her a little jealous that she didn't have a cool older sibling. But she did have her cousin Vince, and her parents were already way more laid back than most of the other kids'.

"Then come on!" Sammi tugged at her sleeve and she looked torn for a moment before nodding and hurrying with her back out to the parking lot.

Theresa was waiting in her car, a black and silver Subaru Impreza. It was a nice car, fast and decently affordable. She'd seen them come into the shop sometimes. She slid into the back while Sammi climbed into the passenger seat and the car sped out of the parking lot and away from the school.

When they arrived at the beach road a half hour later she could see that there were lots of pretty cars lined up along the side of the road, pulled off into the sand. Theresa pulled up alongside them and they climbed out. Someone in a Nissan had a crazy stereo system and it was pumping out music. Someone else was organizing a race, collecting payments as the first two cars peeled down the drag.

This time of day there was no traffic down near the beach, especially in the winter time. She supposed that was why they were doing it in the middle of a school day instead of at night. But it still seemed like they might get caught.

Sammi led her over to a group of guys standing around a black Toyota, making introductions. "This is Carlos, Alex and Jaden," she said. The guys were all familiar in that she knew they were seniors and they had really sweet rides. She could tie people to their cars but remembering their names was a whole 'nother thing.

"Hey," she said, nodding to them.

They looked her over briefly. She wasn't tall or curvy as she hadn't really filled out; being that she was only 14. She was wearing a pair of cargo pants cinched around her hips with a studded belt and a black tank top under a grey hoodie with DT on the back.

"Hey, you're that Toretto kid, right?" one of the boys, she thought it was Alex, asked.

She nodded, one brow raised.

"I heard that back in the day your Dad used to be a real racing legend around here. A real bad ass."

She scoffed. "Well he can race," she said.

"So, can you?"

She smirked. "Want to find out?"

He looked dubious and one of the other guys shook his head. "Come on man, easy money. She's only 14! She probably can't even drive!"

"She can too," Sammi put in, looking annoyed on her behalf.

"Fine," Alex said. "You're on. Two hundred dollar buy-in."

She frowned. "I don't have-"

"Deal," Theresa said, putting the stack of cash in his hand, and then tossing her the keys. "Be nice to my baby, girl."

Grinning, she nodded and ran over to the Impreza and slid into the driver's seat. She was pretty much done growing height wise. And though she'd never be tall, her feet reached the pedals, thank you very much. She started up the car and pulled up to the spray painted starting line.

0000

When Theresa dropped her off after 3 at her house she was totally floating on cloud nine. Not only had she kicked some senior's ass in a race before she even had her license, but she was two-hundred dollars richer. Not a bad way to spend her first day back to school after break, as far as she was concerned.

She waved to her friends and unlocked the front door, heading inside happily. Another benefit, she thought as she nudged the door closed with her hip, was that she didn't have any homework. Humming she wandered towards the stairs, only to be stopped in her tracks when she spotted her mother standing in the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest. She blinked at her.

"Mami… why aren't you at the garage?"

"You know…" her mother replied. "It's probably interesting to note that if you don't show up to school… they call your parents to find out if you're sick or excused. Imagine my surprise… when I got that call this morning?"

The girl bit down on her lower lip, eyes wide. She couldn't even think of anything to say.

"And I thought to myself… where would my daughter be if not at school?"

"Uh…" she shifted uneasily on her feet.

Letty narrowed her eyes. "You're in serious trouble. Do you know how worried about you we were?"

The girl hunched guiltily, hands shoved in the pockets of her hoodie. "I'm sorry Mami."

"You're grounded. For the next month. I'm not even kidding. No parties, no hanging out with friends after school. Just home and the garage and going to class."

"Mom! Harsh," the girl muttered, kicking at the ground.

"Yeah that's right," Letty replied. "Harsh is what you get when you ditch school to go joyriding all day." She shook her head when her daughter opened her mouth to say something. "I don't want to hear it. Get your ass to your room. Your homework from your lovely ditch day is up there waiting for you to do so I know you won't be bored when I say no television and no computer."

"Mom," she whined, then turned to sulk up the stairs.

"Oh, and one more thing," her mother said, stopping her in her dramatic exit. "Hand over the money."

"What?" the girl cried. "How did you know?" She pouted, tugging the cash out of her back pocket.

"Mothers know everything."


	19. A Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First boyfriend with a twist!

"Do you want to tell Papi about your boyfriend?" Letty asked one day after bringing their daughter to the garage after school.

She was six years old and in her second week of first grade. She loved her school, and had talked excitedly about her new teacher nearly every day. She brought home pictures and projects to show off and was pleased when they found a place of honor on the corkboard in the garage. She made new friends with ease and seemed to have someone to tell them about every day. Still… that hadn't been a word he'd been expecting to hear in regards to his daughter for years.

"Your what?" Dom asked, no longer interested in whatever it was he'd been working on under the hood of a car.

"My boyfriend!" the little girl chirped, beaming up at him. Today she was wearing her red converse and a red cap-sleeved top with white polka dots and little black jeans. Her hair was pulled on top of her head in a ponytail. She swung her backpack off her shoulders and set it on the garage floor, leaning down to unzip it and pull out a paper.

"We made drawings for… our partner and wrote things on the back!" she announced, holding it up. "Marco was my partner!"

"And… that makes him your boyfriend?" he asked warily, glancing at his wife. He scowled at the obvious amusement on her face. She was loving this.

"No," the child replied, reaching to be picked up by her father. "Marco and I talked about stuff we like… and he likes cars and _I_ like cars. And his favorite color is red and _my_ favorite color is red. And we both have a Mami and a Papi. He said I was cooler than any other girl he knowed ever… so he said could I be his girlfriend and I said okay."

Dom looked down at her, and down at her drawing of what he supposed was her friend Marco, with black scribbles for hair and a red shirt and lots of cars drawn in the background. On the opposite side of the paper were lists of things Marco liked in her childish handwriting.

He took the paper from her. "It was that easy huh?"

She looked confused and Letty was laughing at him from across the room.

"Dom," she said. "They're only kids. It doesn't mean anything."

"She's only six she doesn't need boyfriends already."

"Only Marco is my boyfriend Papi!" the girl insisted, looking even more confused. "Is that bad?"

"No mija, it's not bad," her mother soothed, shooting her husband a look. "Papi is just being silly. Why don't you tell him about what else you and Marco did today?"

"He gave me his cookie at snack time," she said, squirming to be put down. "And we played together at recess! We also played with Carlos and Amber and Liana… and we all drew chalk pictures. The teacher took pictures to hang in the classroom." She pulled one out of her backpack, passing it up to her father. It was a photo printed out on cardstock, showing the five children, hands and arms and clothes streaked with chalk. There were drawings on the smooth blacktop; a multicolored rainbow, massive flowers with too many awkward petals, stick figure people and cars. He chuckled softly.

"Sounds like you had a fun day at school."

"Yeah," she said. "I like school." She looked thoughtful. "But I like here better."

"Oh yeah?" her father asked, setting the picture aside to bring home later. That would go on the fridge there.

"Yeah," she replied. "There's more cars."

Letty laughed. "And that's why you like here better?"

"Well… cause Mami and Papi's here too," the girl added.

Dom smiled, scooping the girl up and tickling her until she giggled and squirmed, face red. "Papi no! No tickles!"

"We're second to cars huh?" he asked, laughing.

"Yes!" she squealed, wiggling around in his arms and clutching at his shirt.

"At least you're honest, kid." Dom chuckled, patting her on the seat of her pants and setting her on her feet.

The little girl hugged at his leg, then trotted over to retrieve her backpack. She retreated into the office, announcing loudly to her aunt about her day at school. Dom watched her go, and then looked over to his wife, who was leaning against a car, still terribly amused.

"I still don't like the boyfriend thing," he said.

Letty walked towards him, slipping her arms around his waist and tilting her chin up to look at him. "At this age it's harmless." She smiled. "And you know you'll always be the most important man in her life, don't you, Papa?"

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smile on his lips.

"Mmm hmm," she said, leaning up to kiss him softly. "And mine."


	20. A Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting caught in a compromising situation

Dom hadn't been expecting anything when he'd headed home early from the garage one evening. The workload hadn't been too bad this week and Letty and Brian could more than handle closing up for the night. He didn't like to take off early, but he'd had to swing by the bank before it closed and pick up a few parts from their supplier so that they could do some modifications to their own vehicles.

He hadn't been all that surprised to see the black Scion parked in front of the house. It was the car that belonged to his daughter's boyfriend, and though he hadn't gotten much more comfortable with her dating, he grudgingly agreed that there were worse boys for her to date. She was 17 now, and in her last year of high school. She had good grades and she worked hard, for the most part. Letty often liked to say he was far too overprotective, but he could hardly be blamed. His daughter had a wild streak, and could misbehave at times. Still, he liked to delude himself that she was still a little girl in many respects.

He parked his own vehicle in the driveway behind his daughter's red Shelby and popped the trunk, carting the parts he'd picked up back to the garage. It was another fifteen minutes before he went in through the back door of the house.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was like one of those potpourri things Mia used to put around the house when they were younger. Letty had no interest in the stuff, though she would occasionally burn scented candles when she had a bath. But it was nothing like this and he frowned, peering into the living room with mild suspicion. There were some candles that had been lit, and were now left guttering on the coffee table, abandoned. Dom moved to blow them out when he caught sight of something black and lacy discarded across the arm of the couch. His eyes narrowed. He might have assumed the panties belonged to his wife, except for the fact that when they did get amorous on the couch these days they were very careful to pick up after themselves. Their daughter's disgust at the thought of her parents having sex was quite known to them and even if it did amuse them they didn't want to scar her for life either.

He didn't touch the underwear, especially not as his eyes caught on more clothing strewn around the couch. His daughter's black converse under the coffee table, her favorite pair of black jeans with holes worn in the knees and a black bra with pink polka dots. He scowled, his mood quite foul, as his eyes caught on a second pair of jeans, these obviously belonging to a boy, a black t-shirt turned inside-out was dangling over the top of a lamp. He set his jaw, snatching it up.

T-shirt clenched in his fist he started up the steps, the carpet muffling the heavy fall of his boots. He was silently stewing when he tried the knob.

Locked, of course.

She was only more doomed by the fact that Letty wasn't there to stand in his way and tell him he was overreacting. He knew his wife well enough to know what she'd say to him, all the rational arguments she'd give him, and the bull-headed way she'd push back against his own stubborn nature.

But she wasn't here, so his dear little girl was in a world of trouble.

Not to mention her soon to be dead and _ex_ boyfriend.

He pounded on the door with his free hand.

"Open this door, right now." His voice was even, not raised. But perhaps it was all the more frightening because of that.

There was silence from the other end of the door, then hasty scrambling, soft cursing, whispering and the unmistakable sound of footsteps crossing the hardwood floor. The door unlocked, and inched open just slightly. He could see the wide-eyed face of his daughter through the small crack, her eyes dark and her hair in wild curls a mess around her face. She bit down on her lower lip. She was wearing an over-sized t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. She struggled to look innocent, her cheeks flushed and panic in her gaze.

"Papi," she blinked up at him. "I wasn't expecting you home this early…"

He held up the t-shirt in his hand, his other hand curling around the door frame so hard it sounded like it was cracking. The teenager swallowed hard, falling silent.

"Papi…." She tried again when he was silent, simply staring down at her, but he pushed the door open and she hardly resisted.

His dark eyes fell on the boy, or young man in her bed. Earlier today he'd been thinking quite charitably about Carlos Sanchez. But now his eyes and his body language were screaming murder. Carlos was smart enough to recognize that, as he hastily stood, the sheet still wrapped around his waist.

"Please uh… Mister Toretto, Sir… I can explain."

"I don't want to hear it. Get the hell out of my house." When the boy didn't move, Dom stepped further into the room, shirt held out, face menacing. " _Now._ "

Carlos grabbed the shirt; gulping and tripping over the sheet he was covering himself with in his rush to flee the room. He heard him stumbling down the steps and then scrambling in the living room for his clothing. It took less than a minute for the front door to slam shut, signaling that he'd been obeyed.

Dom turned back to his daughter, who shrank under his gaze, squaring her shoulders at the same time.

"Dad, you're being ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? If you really think so, then why sneak around?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this!" she flung up her arms. "And it's not like I'm sneaking into his window after dark or something!"

"There will be none of that," he snapped at her. "Not in this house. You're not going to see him again."

"Dad!" she looked angry, her dark eyes flashing just the same way her mother's did. "You _like_ Carlos!"

"Correction," he replied. "Liked. Clean up the living room and then do your homework. We're done talking about this. You're not seeing him anymore."

"I hate your guts," she hissed, stalking out of the room past him and stomping down the stairs. She picked up her clothing, muttering unkind things about him, and then stalked back upstairs to her room, slamming the door loudly.

Dom sighed, rubbing a hand over his head before going back down to the kitchen. He needed a beer. And for Letty to come home. He seriously could not handle this.


	21. An Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby Toretto is born.

The last month had been what one might call… uncomfortable for Letty. Overall she found pregnancy a bizarre experience. At first it had just been a lot of being fatigued, occasionally wanting to eat really strange things and spurts of over-emotional reactions. After fatigue had passed she'd found herself with sudden bursts of energy, combined with a body that was more obviously physically changing. She supposed that had been the hardest part. Mia had complained that she had it easy, having avoided the dreaded nausea and vomiting of morning-sickness. But Letty had difficulties adjusting to the mere being of pregnancy. Avoiding alcohol and coffee tested her self-control daily, and the vitamins she had to be reminded time and again to take. At first it was simply inconvenient, and then as her belly grew and her breasts became larger it was at turns hilarious and frustrating.

She couldn't be convinced to take time off work, even as her larger belly prevented her from working under the cars or being on her feet for too many hours at a time. She'd complain until Dom sat her down and soothed her with a back rub. And then sometimes the baby would kick or move around and she'd sit there in a silent moment of sheer amazement. It was as if this tiny life inside her was not always real to her.

And in the last months of her pregnancy it seemed that LA was doing its best to have the hottest summer on record. So she was uncomfortable, fat and hot. Which led to her being incredibly irritable and all-around bad company. After month eight, Mia and Dom had joined forces and banned her from the garage. She was in danger of getting over-heated, she was having back pain, she was on her feet too long and she was stressing herself and everyone around her out. She was off work for the foreseeable future. And no arguments.

Not that she hadn't _tried_ to argue.

But there was little on this earth more stubborn than the Toretto siblings. Even she couldn't stand against the both of them.

She would be sulking at the garage except it truly was hot and at least if she was sulking at home there was AC. She'd spent the first two weeks tinkering on some smaller parts out in the garage that she brought into the kitchen. She could sit at the table and put them together, losing herself in the familiar work. After lunch, which Dom usually came home to have with her (and she wouldn't admit it but she found it incredibly sweet), she'd take a nap in the recliner, car magazine resting over her belly and Top Gear playing continuously via Netflix.

Afternoons seemed to lead to nesting, which Mia had caught her at once or twice and giggled over. But she was starting to feel the baby moving more often now, as if the child was eager to be out and experiencing the world. And she couldn't help but realize how very soon it would be before this child was actually born. So she'd spend a great deal of time in the nursery. Dom and Brian had painted it and assembled all the furniture. It was a warm, sunny room; a little brown bear sitting in the crib just waiting for his new owner.

Letty had found some old family photos tucked away in a closet and framed them, hanging them on the yellow walls. The picture of her and Dom that Mia had used for her supposed funeral was reframed, made a happy memory for the start of a life and not the end of one. She went through all the boxes of gifts from the baby shower Mia had arranged, folding tiny clothes, marveling at the sheer amount of diapers people had given and tucking away toys in the little wooden box with a smiling red car on the front. There were dozens of books and stories tucked in a colorful basket, and Letty found herself settling down in the rocking chair (it had once belong to Dom's mother though was now refinished) every day to read a story to her unborn baby.

She found she cherished the last month at home away from work. From the distractions of her life that had kept her from thinking about how much it was soon to change. No longer would every day be about the garage and cars and her and Dom. Something was going to change their lives forever.

It was in the middle of her third week home alone that it happened. A hot July morning, rolling blackouts through the LA area making the AC flick on and off throughout the day until she gave up on anything productive, sprawling on the couch in one of Dom's old t-shirts and only her underwear beneath. Her dark hair bundled up away from her neck, a water bottle resting atop her belly and ice melting in a dish and occasionally on the back of her neck or against her collarbone.

She was too weary and overheated to read, and the television was a no-go without power. She found herself texting Dom just to complain, especially when her back began to hurt fiercely. He must have been hotter than she was, stuck at the garage in the middle of the day, but his responses were nothing but sympathetic, promising her a massage as soon as he was home.

When the back pain persisted she started to pace the house, stretching and rubbing at her spine to try and get some relief. She vaguely remembered some mention about back labor when she thought back to her pregnancy classes, but she also knew that labor could be false, and she certainly would have known if she was having contractions. Heading for the bathroom she popped a Tylenol instead and lamented for the days when she could take something stronger.

Though Letty hadn't been exactly less than anxious about the idea of being pregnant to begin with, much less actually giving birth, when she'd started to feel the false contractions a few weeks prior she'd been relatively level-headed. She'd found them annoying, and uncomfortable, but it had been Dom who'd panicked. Though you'd never know it to see him. He'd hovered. He had asked her constantly how she was, if she needed anything. She'd assured him they were just false contractions and they'd passed within a few hours. She found herself somewhat disappointed that she'd probably be in too much pain during labor to laugh at him. Having a baby was really turning him into a pile of mush.

So of course, when she'd felt the tightening in her muscles and abdomen her first thought had not been that she was going into labor. Instead she wandered into the kitchen for a snack, hoping that they would not last very long today.

She was just not in the mood.

If anything, that just made baby Toretto more likely to want to be born today. That's what she would tell herself later. She pulled a lemon ice-pop out of the freezer, sucking on it as she considered what to eat. It was too hot to cook and her appetite wasn't incredible. The only reason she even thought to eat was because the doctor had told it might help the Braxton-Hicks contractions to pass more quickly, as sometimes hunger or thirst could bring them on.

Finally she settled on some fruit that she sliced into a bowl and a couple of scoops of tangy Greek yogurt. Taking her bowl and spoon to the living room she settled down on the couch, trying to read a little bit more of her car magazine.

Unfortunately after a few bites the pain in her back returned with ferocity, tense and knotted in accompaniment to the occasional irritating contractions tightening her belly. She sighed, pushing herself to her feet, pacing around the room while she ate her food. She was beginning to think that perhaps this was not a false alarm, but since they still weren't coming regularly or frequently she decided to wait it out a little longer before calling the garage. The last thing she needed was Dom rushing home like a madman while she still had hours to go before she could give birth.

Instead she tried to relax, pacing through the house, having another ice pop, reading her magazine as she wandered, trying to distract herself from the pain and the nerves in the back of her mind. She passed a few hours in this manner, but the contractions did slowly start to become more regular, and less irritating, radiating painfully from her back around the curve of her belly. She picked up her cell phone to call Dom. He answered after two rings.

"What's up baby? Power still out?"

"What?" she looked around. "Oh… no." She had hardly even realized that the AC was back on and the house was cool again. The television had been left on, and she could faintly hear it from the other room. She let out a long breath. "You have to come home."

There was silence from the other end, and she could only picture the sudden look of panic on his face. She couldn't help the chuckle that slid out of her lips, distracting her from the low level ache in her back.

"I'll be right there," he replied, and she could hear him hold the phone away to shout to Mia that he was going. "Are you okay?" he asked, putting the phone back to his ear.

"I'm fine. We probably still have plenty of time, but I don't think these are false contractions."

"How long have you been having them?"

"Uh… since around 10."

"Jesus, Letty it's almost 5. You better call the doctor."

She smiled. "Yeah, okay. Don't panic, Papa. I'll see you in 5." She hung up the phone and started up the stairs to their bedroom as she hit the doctor's office on speed dial. She left Dom's t-shirt on, pulling a pair of grey sweat shorts from her dresser as the receptionist put her on hold.

The doctor's voice was soothing calmness on the other end of the line, asking questions and then saying that she would meet them at the hospital within the hour. Letty hung up feeling slightly more at ease as she packed some extra clothes into a duffel bag, then slipped on a pair of flip flops. She heard Dom's car pull up and the door slam as she started back down the stairs.

He was inside before she got to the bottom. He looked at her worriedly, as if she was suddenly made of glass and he reached out to take the bag from her (it wasn't really heavy) while also offering her a hand to help her the rest of the way down the stairs. She raised a brow at him, but slipped her hand into his.

"Dom, I'm fi-" unfortunately the rest of her response was cut off as another contraction clenched through her body, stealing away her breath with the sudden sharpness of it. She squeezed down on his hand, breathing out slowly as it passed.

She could tell he was less than assured, so she only took the last few steps down, pushing him aside to move past him towards the door. "The doctor said she'd meet us at the hospital so we'd better go," she said.

"Right." He nodded, standing there a moment, eyes wide. "Right," and then he was hurrying to the door ahead of her, holding it open for her. His hand on the small of her back as he helped her down the steps. He tossed the bag into the back seat of the car and then opened the passenger door for her.

As she lowered herself awkwardly into the 1970 Plymouth all Letty could think was that Dom's preference for fast, low to the ground cars was a drawback in this particular situation. Sitting down only made her back hurt anew and so she reached down to straighten up the seat back as Dom hustled around the car and slid into the driver's side. She buckled up as he backed out of the drive, and he was on the highway shortly.

Though she couldn't say Dom drove cautiously, he didn't speed as much as he would have before she was pregnant. Still, it didn't take them all that long to get to the hospital. Only two more contractions, which she breathed through, hands clenching on her knees as Dom looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Thankfully he didn't say anything, just drove faster.

When they got there he pulled up front, going around the car to help her out. Which was good since she didn't think she could lift herself up on her own. Leaving the car running, hazards on, he helped her into the hospital. The receptionist at the front took their name and brought up their chart on the computer. All the information was already there, thanks to regular check-ups with their doctor. Technology was nice, because it meant that once they were checked in Letty got to pace the waiting room while Dom went out to park the car.

He had half a dozen texts from Mia asking him if the baby was coming and to keep her updated and that she and Brian would be by the hospital later. He texted back that he would let her know as he hurried back into the hospital to join his wife. A nurse had come out to escort them out of the waiting room by then and he put his arm around Letty, who leaned slightly against him, either a testament to the pain she was feeling, or nerves. Perhaps a combination of both. Once she was given a gown to change into they settled into their private room to wait for the contractions to get closer together. She didn't even sit on the bed, insisting that pacing and walking around was helping her with the back pain. He brought her water and ice, lured her to sit down by offering back massages and inclining the back of the bed as far as it would go. Their doctor, a middle-aged woman with a soft round face and confidence in the set of her body arrived not long after they had, and Letty seemed to relax. They gave her some pain killers for her back, and the doctor urged her to try and rest while she could.

"You have a bit to go still," she said gently. "And this isn't even the hard part."

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder," Letty groaned, resting her head back against the pillows. Sweat had already begun to curl the hair at the base of her skull and around her temples.

Dom reached over to take her hand and she squeezed it gently.

Though she tried to sleep between contractions any real rest was elusive and it was still a few more hours before the doctor came by to check and announced they were ready for the delivery room.

The next couple of hours were a blur to Dom, Letty's hand on his, clenching hard through contractions and labor. She did not suffer quietly, cursing him out in a string of Spanish, some of which he didn't even understand, mixed with English and crying out as pain tore into her body. Sweat made her long hair cling to the back of her neck, dripped down her face. He felt totally helpless, wanting to ease her pain but unable to do so. So he let her crush his hand, mopped the sweat from her brow and murmured words of encouragement as she brought their child into the world.

Child birth was hardly as glamorous as the movies made it out to be, and he thought any man who brought a video camera in for the event deserved to be kicked in the face by his wife for the mere thought. Still, it was an amazing moment when the first piercing cries of a baby filled the room. Letty beside him even forgot her pain when the baby was placed in her arms.

"Congratulations, it's a girl," the doctor told them. "And she's completely healthy."

Everything else seemed to fall away as he stared down at the tiny human being in his wife's arms. A daughter. He had a daughter. He could hardly believe it. Just hours ago she'd been this presence that occasionally kicked against Letty's rounded belly, but now she was a living, breathing little person blinking up at them. A head full of black hair, already slightly curled. From her tiny, slightly smushed-looking face she peered up with enormous dark eyes.

Letty smiled, watching him watch the baby. "Wanna hold her?"

"Oh… yeah," he held out his arms, taking her as if she were made of glass. She was tiny cuddled into the crook of his massive arm. It hadn't been like the first time he'd held Vince, even though he'd been there when the little guy had been born. This was different. As he and his daughter stared at one another in silence he felt this sudden tightness in his chest, like his heart was too full of love and it might burst.

Letty was the love of his life and this was their child. Their daughter.

Yeah. He had room in his heart for _two_ loves of his life.


	22. An Embarrassment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silliness

It was the summer before 7th grade when one day Aunt Mia came over with two big boxes. One of them she made Vince carry out of the car for her. Uncle Brian was at the shop with her Mom and Dad, as usual. She'd been enjoying her free time home alone, stereo blasting rap music that she hastily turned down when she saw her Aunt's car pulling into the driveway. Vince kicked open the back door, muscling one old cardboard box inside. He set it heavily on the kitchen floor with a thunk, then moved to the fridge to pull out a bottle of blue sports drink. Her favorite.

She scowled at him. "Well hello to you too. Please come in, make yourself at home." She couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice, too much snarky teenager already in her 12 year old bones.

"I always do," he returned, shit-eating grin on his face as he took a long drink.

"What the hell is that?" she asked, kicking the toe of her bare foot lightly against the distressed cardboard of the box.

"Language," Aunt Mia scolded as she shouldered through the doorway with another box.

"Aw, c'mon Aunt Mi…" she complained. "It's just Hell. Mami doesn't care if I say it."

"Your mother is a heathen with no manners," her aunt replied, laughing. "I only hope I can hammer a few of them into you when I come around." She dropped her box onto the floor beside the other, letting out a sigh. "And these, are for you."

Raising a brow, the pre-teen opened up the top flaps of the box slowly, and peered inside. There were rows of skinny plastic cases with names and titles on them. She tilted her head slightly. "What is this? Bootlegged movies?"

"What?" Her aunt looked outraged and then laughed. "No! They're CDs!"

"What?" she repeated, looking at her blankly.

"Music," Aunt Mia replied, an exasperated look on her face. "You know, before everything was downloaded off the internet and stored in your damn mp3 players and cell phones?"

"No…?" the girl shook her head, blinking.

"Geez, I feel old."

"That's because you are old, Mom," Vince put in from where he was lounging at the table. Mia shot him a scolding look and he smiled, looking apologetic.

"I'm only old to 15 year old little boys," she replied, nose in the air. Then she turned back to her niece. "Look, I get it, CDs make me totally ancient, but you can take all this music and download it onto your computer and add it to your music collection."

"Has Dad been complaining about my choices in music at the garage?" she asked, pulling out a CD with a strange woman on the front. She had pink hair in pigtails. She did not think this was going to be her kind of music.

"No," Mia lied smoothly. "It's only that some of that has a lot of language that's not really appropriate for a girl your age."

"Now you _really_ sound old, Aunt Mia."

"Don't be a brat. Worst case scenario you just junk the CDs anyway. Who knows, maybe you'll find something in all this that appeals to you."

The girl looked dubious as she lifted out a case decorated with some sort of girl group across the front, all wearing different shades of silvery skimpy dresses. "I fail to see how this is more appropriate," she said drily.

Still, she shrugged and went upstairs to get her laptop and attachable disc drive. It couldn't hurt.

0000

Later that evening when Dom and Letty pulled up to the house they heard the faint sounds of music drifting out the open window and exchanged a glance. Letty stepped out of the car, expecting to hear the profanity-laced lyrics of something their dear daughter had found online. Not that she really wanted to forbid her daughter from listening to the kind of music she liked. But then there were the complications of her exposing her friends and classmates to said music, and other parents, and teachers talking to her about her daughter's language.

Dom had suggested that intervention by Mia might work best.

But she really hadn't been expecting this result. Exchanging a wary look with Dom she approached the back door and slowly opened it.

The music drifting out was vaguely familiar. In the way that it made Letty remember clapping her hands over her ears and diving over Mia to get control of the radio station. Or the way that Dom remembered it blasting from his teenage sister's room to his eternal suffering, until he fled the house or blasted his own music in competition.

Letty cautiously made her way through the kitchen, where the boxes Mia had brought over earlier were piled full of CDs in a haphazard manner, other cases scattered across the table. She lifted the offending one by the corner with the tips of her fingers and raised a brow at Dom.

" _Your_ daughter is listening to _Britney Spears_ ," she told him accusingly and he held up his hands.

"Why is that my fault!?"

"It's your sister!"

"Maybe she's just playing this to fuck with us," Dom suggested hopefully and they walked into the living room together.

Instead they found their 12 year old daughter, feet bare, red shorts on, blue and red Superman shirt, her curly black hair pulled into pigtails as she sang along to 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' into the television remote.

Letty punched her husband in the arm. "This is totally your fault!" she hissed and he scowled at her as he rubbed his arm.

He was going to kill Mia, he thought as he watched his daughter shake her hips to the pop song. This was not any better than the music she'd been listening to before. In fact he thought it was worse! Because it seemed a hell of a lot more sexual. In the middle of fuming over the scolding he was going to give his sister he almost didn't notice when the young girl dancing with abandon on the couch turned around to see her parents staring at her.

The remote clattered out of her hands and she turned red, nearly falling off the couch. Letty walked past her to turn off the stereo.

"Uh… hi Mami. Hi Papi," she said weakly.

"We're never speaking of this again," Letty replied and walked upstairs, leaving father and daughter staring at one another in silent embarrassment.

Yeah, that was probably the best way to deal with it, he agreed, turning to go back into the kitchen. That and purging her music collection.


	23. A Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day home with new baby.

Mia had laughed at her when she'd said the hard part was over. She hadn't really understood.

She'd given birth, gone through the pain of labor, and pushed a whole person out of her. What else could possibly be more difficult than that?

Letty had just been grateful to be home, sick of being in a hospital bed with nurses coming in to check on her and crappy hospital food on little plastic trays. She was still sore and tired, so she went straight up to her room while Dom carried in the baby sleeping in her car seat.

"I'm going to nap," she told him and he gave her a nod, carrying the baby into the living room.

"Guess it's just me and you little girl," he murmured, and wisely let her sleep on in the seat, setting it gently on the floor beside the couch. He looked at her and then, convinced she was sleeping peacefully, ducked into the kitchen for a cold beer before quickly returning to the couch.

She was still asleep.

Dom settled down onto the couch, debated watching television, but deciding against anything that made too much noise he reached for a magazine that was sitting on the coffee table. It had probably been sitting there since the day Letty had gone to the hospital in labor. He flipped it open, lifting his feet to rest them on the coffee table. For a while time passed quietly, him drinking his beer and reading his magazine, the baby sleeping peacefully in her car seat.

He didn't know why he'd expected it to stay that way.

He was just leaning over for another magazine when the tiny infant stirred in her car seat, squirmed, then opened her mouth and _wailed_.

He was going to blame Letty for those lungs.

Dom nearly tripped over his own feet getting off the couch. He was trying to shush the baby before he thought about it, not wanting her cries to wake up Letty. He knew she hadn't slept well in the hospital and though neither of them would be getting a whole lot of sleep for the foreseeable future, he wanted to let her sleep a little just now.

Carefully he lifted the baby out of her seat, her tiny head fitting in the palm of his hand as he straightened up and carried her into the kitchen. She was still crying, in the way of a baby who hadn't yet gotten what it needed and would cry until such need was met. Dom pulled a bottle out of the fridge and popped it into the warmer as he soothed the infant, rocking her gently and rubbing her little belly. Her cries became quieter and she stared up at him with teary dark eyes, hands curled into impossibly little fists. That lasted for only mere seconds until she was crying again, her face scrunched up as she made him loudly aware of how unhappy she was. Dom shifted her in his arms carefully, willing the bottle to heat up faster as he paced across the kitchen, rocking the newborn.

By the time he offered the bottle to the baby Letty had appeared in the kitchen door, looking sleepy, wearing only one of his t-shirts. She leaned against the door jamb, yawning.

"That little girl's got some lungs," she said, her voice scratchy with sleep.

He laughed, looking down at the baby who was now contentedly drinking her bottle. "Yeah. I was hoping she wouldn't wake you up."

She smiled, reaching up to rub the baby's little stomach. "It was a nice thought, but I think we both have to realize that we're probably not getting a full-night's sleep for the next several months."

"I guess that's true," he agreed, smiling down at their daughter. She looked so sweet when she wasn't howling her lungs out. That would probably continue to be a theme.

Letty mumbled an agreement, moving past him to dig the orange juice out of the fridge and then pulled a glass from the cabinet to pour some. She sat at the table with her juice, watching Dom feed the baby, a little half-smile slipping across her lips.

"What?" he asked, catching the little grin.

"You look good, Papa."

"What? With a baby in my arms?" He grinned at her.

She only nodded, a little smile on her face, eyes dark. To anyone else she'd be unreadable. But he knew her well enough to know she was feeling emotional. It was something that had been all too rare between them most of their relationship. He'd always been the one to say I love you and she'd always just smiled and curled close to him, assured he knew how she felt.

Somewhere between jacking trucks in LA and fleeing to Mexico that had changed. When they'd been together in the Dominican Republic they'd been closer, and that had been when he started to realize how much he couldn't stand to lose her. He'd made the wrong decisions to try and keep her safe and she'd thrown herself back into danger just to get him back again. Her 'death' had been a wake-up call for Dom. That punch to the gut that told him love was something that didn't come around every day. And he'd lost his. He never thought he'd get her back. That death hadn't really been permanent. Finding her again had been a miracle and a heartache. She hadn't been the same. She'd been someone else.

She'd still been his Letty.

And now here she was with him. Again. His Letty. His wife. The mother of his child.

Sometimes he wondered if it was all real. He knew sometimes she wondered the same thing. The way he'd catch her looking at him as if in some mild state of disbelief.

Dom was pulled from his thoughts by the sounds of the baby sucking at an empty bottle and quickly pulled it away. The tiny girl squirmed in his arms as he dropped the bottle into the sink with a clatter before shifting her to one shoulder.

"You're going to need to burp her," Letty said, draining the last of the OJ in her cup.

"I know," he said, already patting the baby's back lightly.

"You might want to get one of the -" but before the sentence was even out of her mouth the infant spit up on his shirt and Letty stifled a laugh as Dom cursed under his breath.

"I tried to warn you," she said as he passed her the baby, tugging his shirt up over his head and tossing it into the laundry basket. Her gaze slid over him slowly and she couldn't help but mentally bemoan the number of days until they could have sex again. Some things about having a baby really sucked.

But, she thought as she smiled down at the child already drifting to sleep in her arms, Mia had been right. It was totally worth it.


	24. An Unexpected Visit

Just because she didn't live at home anymore didn't mean she wasn't there all the time anyway. It was, after all, her first year living on her own. And despite the fact that she was 21 years old, she still needed her family.

It wasn't that she didn't love her apartment, a little stucco building with a clay tile roof sandwiched between half a dozen others in a little gated area in Huntington Park, with rows of nicely kept palm trees planted out front next to desert-stiffened shrubs. It was just that she found herself missing home. Her father on the couch after dinner with a cold Corona, and the smell of her mother cooking _sancocho_ or _locrio de pollo_ for supper. The sound of her father's car roaring into the driveway when he came home from work. Or the way the laundry room always smelled like engine oil and car exhaust.

Hell she even missed the way she would occasionally find her parents snuggled together on the couch some nights, or her mother sitting in her father's lap after dinner, whispering things in his ear that made him grin like an idiot. It partially disgusted her, but the adult in her realized that not everyone's parents loved each other like hers did, especially after so long.

But she didn't think she'd ever outgrow her need to make gagging faces at them whenever she caught them being lovey dovey together.

To her father's pride she'd transferred from junior college to UCLA to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering and she had more than a knack for it. Even as her knowledge of parts and systems grew in leaps and bounds she still felt most at home around cars. She still put in a few hours at the garage at least three days a week. Went home with her parents for dinner, except for on Fridays which had become their 'date night'. She preferred not to ask.

On Sundays there was always a barbeque at Aunt Mia's house, and the whole family would gather. Even Vince would drive out, every Sunday, despite the fact that he now lived an hour away.

He'd recently started bringing his girlfriend with him. This one might be a keeper.

On Saturdays her parents usually worked half a day at the garage, so any time after 2 pm she could often catch them at home. Her mother always told her she should call first, because what if they weren't there and she dropped by to an empty house. But Saturday was her errand day, so she was always out and about to begin with, and it was so easy to swing by home after picking up the dry cleaning or having her hair cut. She could bullshit with Dad on the back porch for a few hours, or pester Mom into talking about her questionable past.

Sometimes she'd find the two of them in the garage out back working on the Charger. They were always working on that car, even though it had been in fine shape ever since she'd been born. She knew it had seen more than a few accidents, that her aunt called it a curse but her parents seemed to think otherwise.

So today when she pulled up in front of the house and saw both her Mom and Dad's cars parked in the drive she smiled to herself. Maybe they were getting predictable in their old age, because she hadn't dropped by once to find them out somewhere else.

The front door was open, so she let herself in without the aid of a key. Once inside she looked around. There was a basket of fresh laundry to be folded sitting on the couch, and the television was on mute. The kitchen was also empty, but for the half-finished Corona on the table, leaving a ring of condensation on the polished wood. Frowning she started for the stairs.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

An exploration of her old room – they still hadn't changed a damn thing, which made her smile, and the master bedroom told her that they weren't upstairs either. Not unless they were hiding in the bathroom to scare her…

Nope, not in there either.

They must be out back or working in the garage. But strange, she hadn't seen them when she'd pulled up. Shrugging, the young woman went out the back door. The yard was empty and the garage door was closed. She frowned. But… where could they be? Maybe they'd walked somewhere?

No…. no her parents wouldn't go somewhere without driving.

She was about to give up and head home when she heard her mother's voice… coming from the garage? She raised a brow. They couldn't be working in there with the door closed. The garage was old and drafty but it had no AC and even on a mild spring day like today it would get hot in the enclosed space. But perhaps they weren't going to be long.

She started around the side of the garage for the door, her mouth open to call out a greeting when she caught the sound of something that was vaguely familiar.

Familiar in the way of avoided trips to the bathroom past her parents' bedroom late at night. In the way of her iPod blasting in her ears because their walls definitely weren't soundproof. In the way of her mother's voice huskily murmuring things in Spanish she wished she didn't understand.

Yes… they definitely were not working on the car.

Well… maybe they _were_ working on the car. Just… not in the way she'd first assumed.

Grimacing she back-pedaled quickly away, spun on her heel and high-tailed it back into the house. She grabbed a fresh beer from the fridge, retreated to the living room to turn the volume back on the TV and began mindlessly folding the laundry.

She was done with the folding and paging through a magazine by the time the back door swung open twenty minutes later. Her mother appeared in the doorway, dark hair curled with sweat, cheeks flushed, and clothes not quite straight. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.

"I told you to call before you came over."

"I will!" the young woman announced. "Believe me, I have learned my lesson. Geez, aren't old people supposed to have boring sex lives or something?"

"Sweetheart, those are the old people who get divorces," Letty said with a laugh. "Now get the hell out. Thanks for folding the laundry and all but you're cramping my style. I thought you moved out."

"When I did you and Dad didn't want me to go!"

"Yeah well we like the perks of a child-free house. Now scat. We'll see you tomorrow." And with that Letty disappeared back into the kitchen. Her daughter could hear her say something and the murmuring answer of her father's voice. She decided to heed her mother's advice, and beat it, before she saw something she really didn't want to see.

But as she crossed the front lawn to her car parked at the curb she couldn't help but smile. Even after all these years it was nice to know how much they still loved each other.


	25. An Event

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom and Letty's daughter has her Quinceañera. Please remember this is AU as of the 6th film, operating on the idea that D/L met earlier as mentioned in the first movie.

It had been a surprise to both her parents when she'd asked about it. That she'd want to have a Quinceañera at all. It was true enough that she had plenty of Latina friends and had gone to their parties. So maybe they shouldn't have been surprised that she wanted a big, ridiculous affair of her own.

Mia had been thrilled. She'd never had a daughter of her own, so she was more than willing to offer input when it came to anything girly. Of course, it turned out that her niece hadn't been very girly at all. She'd seemed to follow in her mother's footsteps; preferring cars and boys to dresses and the mall. She preferred video games to shopping and big loaded-up burgers dripping with grease to salads.

So overall, the desire to have a formal party, especially one where she'd be expected to put on a fancy dress and dance with people, was a surprise to everyone.

When her mother had asked her about it, stating that her own mother had needed to force her into it and the whole thing had been a rather miserable affair; the teenage girl had only smiled.

"Mami," she said. "It's different cause it's my choice. You and Papi didn't make me do it or buy me a dress I didn't want. I know it seems really weird… but I kind of want to have the experience, you know? I feel like I'll regret it one day if I don't."

And just like that it was settled. Her parents agreed to let her aunt plan it, with some input from Letty on what was traditional. They had to start months ahead of time, because it was a massive party, requiring a great deal of money. Not that they didn't have money tucked away. Dom had been smart with the millions he'd earned himself in Rio, investing and tucking things away. They didn't live like kings, wanting to raise their daughter to appreciate money and hard work, but they didn't have to worry, even when times were a little slow at the garage or extra expenses cropped up.

So when it came to the Quinceañera, there wasn't much that they said no to. It was an important time in her life, and for her parents it was also a bit of a shock to realize how quickly their daughter was growing up.

First they'd booked the space. Since her birthday was in July they chose a venue right on the beach, with a large deck patio and a private stretch of sand. Her mother arranged for the food from a local favorite which made all the traditional foods from the Dominican Republic and together they went into town with Aunt Mia to purchase the cake, which was supposed to be over the top. Mia liked to say that it was like the big fancy wedding neither she nor Letty had gotten to have. But Letty was quick to correct her, saying that she'd never wanted a six-tiered white cake with roses on it.

She'd only wanted Dom. And she'd gotten what she wanted.

The cake decorator had assumed a young girl celebrating her special day would want pink and purple and flowers. She'd instead been surprised when she was told that the preferred colors were red and blue, and please make sure the cake had to do with cars.

In some things she was still anything but traditional.

After cake shopping they'd gone for the dress to a place Mia had found. Her niece and the girl's mother had both been out of place in the massive shop full of silk and satin and ruffles. The first dresses the clerk brought out were vetoed immediately for being too pink or too froofy.

After an agonizing hour for all involved parties they'd chosen the dress, left it to be altered and headed home.

A live band was hired and Mia personally saw to all the decorations and favors. Dozens of invitations were written out and mailed. Dom happily avoided any of the planning or work involved, taking advantage of being a man. And Mia was more than happy to step up and take the reins, which was a huge help. Still, it was less of an event than it might have been for some other families. They'd decided to go ahead with the Mass before-hand, mostly in honor of Dom's father's beliefs. They still said their prayers before dinner every night, but otherwise were not the most observant of people.

The traditional dances were ix-nayed right off the bat, with Mia laughing at the memory of how Letty had barely struggled through her first dance, uncomfortable and pissed off in the bright pink dress her mother had forced her into. Letty scowled at her and called her a traitor.

"Who did you dance with, Mami?" her daughter asked, terribly curious.

"Who knows?" Letty snorted. "Some stupid boy from my class."

"I think it was Anthony Ramos from our English class," Mia muttered.

"Why do you even remember that?" Letty raised a brow at her.

"I was jealous. I wanted a big party." She laughed then, shaking her head at her fifteen-year-old self.

"I wish I could have traded you," Letty said. "I hated it."

"Well… it was a nice distraction from a bad couple of years," Mia said with a little smile.

Letty nodded in somber agreement, only to look up at the pouting face of her daughter. "What?"

"I thought maybe you'd danced with Papi. You knew him then, right?"

"Ah…" Letty hedged slightly. Her fifteenth birthday had fallen at the tail end of Dom's time in prison, and he hadn't been home. It had been a bad time, like Mia said. The loss of Mr. Toretto only the first in so much suffering. Mia had gone away to stay with an aunt and it was by sheer will that the two girls made it through those years. In fact, it had been mostly to distract Mia from her loneliness that Letty had even agreed to the party she didn't want to have. And the small kernel of hope that maybe her mother's bout of sobriety would last this time. It hadn't.

Sighing she reached over to smooth a hand through her daughter's dark hair and smiled. "He wasn't around then. He couldn't be. But you know what? I'll dance with him at your Quinceañera. How about that?"

"Yeah…" The girl smiled. "That sounds good."

When the day finally rolled around she took her time in her room getting ready. The dress fit her perfectly. It was a bold red color with a sleeveless v-neckline that gathered together in the middle. The fitted bodice was shot through with silver embroidery and a little bit of sparkle. The skirt was not as big as many traditional dresses, though it still flared out in layers of gathered material punctuated here and there with more embroidery. Her shoes were practical, flat red sandals that crisscrossed up her ankles. Her aunt had done her hair, curling it and taming it into an updo. This would help with the hot July temperatures, at least a little.

She was just applying the faintly tinted lip-gloss which was her only makeup when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

It was her father who appeared in the doorway, staring at her in silence for such a while that she laughed nervously, smoothing her hands over her skirts. "Do I look that silly?"

"No," he said softly, his voice hoarse as if he found it hard to speak. "You look beautiful."

She blushed slightly, fingertips curling into the red fabric as she grinned. "Thanks. You're not going to cry or something stupid like that right?"

"No," he laughed instead, crossing towards her to look at her more carefully. "You know your dad isn't a crier."

"I guess not," she grinned, reaching out to take his hands. "You'll dance with me at my party, won't you Papi?"

He swept her into his arms, holding her close because just for a moment he felt like she was growing up too fast, then he dropped a kiss atop her head and smiled, pulling back. "You bet, kiddo. Let's go."

At her Quinceañera she had her first dance with her father, and she watched him share the last one with her mother.

Yeah, it had totally been worth it.


	26. A Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little girl causes trouble.

"Don't you get smart with me, little girl. You're already in trouble."

Letty faced down her six-year-old daughter who was doing her best to look as intimidating as she could in return. Standing there with her tiny hands on her hips, denim shorts, faded green Hulk t-shirt, dark hair in ponytails that were mussed, strands slipped free around her face. Her big eyes were narrowed and her lips twisted into a scowl.

"I'm _always_ smart, Mami!" she sassed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Letty couldn't help but curse her genes. Of course she was certain that in matters of attitude Dom had more than contributed. But it was hard to deny the girl was her daughter when she got that look on her face. The same look Letty could still see in the mirror.

"Oh really?" she asked, arching one brow. "What was so smart about the mess you made of Mami's car?"

The little girl shrugged, casting her eyes guiltily to the ground. "It needed a pretty color."

Letty let out a long sigh, trying to remember that her daughter couldn't really understand why what she'd done was wrong.

"You don't get to pick the color of Mami's car. Mami does. When you have your own car you can paint it whatever color you want."

"But," the girl protested. "That's a long time. Mami drives me to school. I want your car to be pretty."

Slightly offended, Letty crossed her arms over her chest. "What about when Papi drives you?"

"Papi's car is pretty."

"It's black."

"Black is pretty."

"What's wrong with Mami's car?"

"It's boring. Grey is boring."

"But black is pretty?"

Her daughter nodded sagely. "Not as pretty as red… or blue. But still pretty."

"But you don't like grey… and that's why you tried to paint Mami's car."

The child shifted on her feet. "I thought it would be prettier… so I mixed the red and blue and it turned… purple and it was pretty too so I thought I could paint Mami's car… I thought you'd like it."

Letty sighed. "Mija… you need to use a special kind of paint for cars. Using the leftover paint from your room… that's bad for the car. Mami is going to have to take it to the garage and fix it now. Do you understand?"

"I broke it?" she asked in a very small voice.

"Sort of. You damaged it. That's why you don't mess with other people's things."

"I just wanted to make it pretty… I'm sorry, Mami."

Letty wanted to fold under the weight of those big dark eyes and the little upturned face. But she also knew that if she let the little girl take an inch, she'd grab for a mile. Maybe her intent hadn't been to do damage, but she'd still done something she knew better than to do by trying to paint her car. Putting aside that it had been the wrong kind of paint and now she was going to have to spend several hours scraping it down, using all the tricks of the trade to wipe it away and then repaint the vehicle properly, her daughter should have had more than a healthy respect of cars by now. She had a love for them. She knew her parents had a love for them. And she knew that you didn't touch other people's things without asking.

It was a good thing she was the one dealing with this anyway. Dom would have happily accepted the apology, hugged her until those big eyes didn't look so teary and sent her on her way. There had to be something more effective at teaching her a lesson.

Letty thought Mia would have known exactly what to do. When it came to the responsible parts of being a parent she was still rather stumbling along, even after six years. She knew they let the girl get away with more things than many parents would put up with. They weren't strict about what she saw on the television, or what games she could play. She spent most of her free time in the garage with them, surrounded by tools and cars and mechanics with dirty mouths. That didn't mean she wanted her daughter to grow up a spoiled brat.

"I know you're sorry right now. But you have to learn that there are consequences when you do things you know you're not supposed to."

The girl looked up at her warily. "What… cons… cons-kwence?"

"It means… something that happens because of the thing you did. For example, because you painted Mami's car, you do not get to come to the garage for the rest of the week. So after school you'll go over to Aunt Mia's house until Mami and Papi get off work."

"Nooooooooo!" the girl cried, her face horrified. "Mami that's not fair!"

"Yes it's fair. I just explained it to you. So next time you think about touching someone else's things without permission, you'll remember this, won't you?"

"Yes…" the child mumbled, scuffing her sneaker against the ground unhappily. She sulked out of the room just as Letty heard the sound of Dom's car pulling up.

She looked up as he walked through the back door, and then tilted her head to greet him with a kiss.

"What the hell happened to your car?" he asked, crossing to the fridge for a beer.

"Just a little accident called your daughter," she replied, leaning back against the counter. When he raised a brow she shook her head. "Already handled. Mia will just have to be on monster duty for the next week. I'm going to owe her, which will probably mean we get Vincent for a weekend while she and Brian go off on some romantic vacation."

"Sounds nice," he murmured. "Why don't we ever do that?"

"We should." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders when he sat down at the kitchen table. Quietly she laid her head against the top of his. He reached up to stroke his hand over the soft skin of her arm, chuckling when she shivered in response.

After a long silent moment she asked. "Do you think I should paint my car?"


	27. A Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ties back to an earlier chapter about when the kids learn of their parents' past.

It was typical for the families to get together every Sunday for a barbeque. It was also typical for most of their friends to show up with their families. Everyone would have a good time. So when the kids requested that this week it was only them their parents had all been a little surprised. Letty had been suspicious. Mia had been excited, thinking it might mean some important announcement. So she'd planned a special menu and fussed over it as Brian shook his head at her.

At eleven am Dom and Letty arrived without their daughter.

"She left the house at like nine," Letty explained. "Said she'd be catching a ride with Vince."

Brian laughed. "Those two are up to something."

"That's what I keep saying," she replied. "Dom thinks I'm paranoid."

"You are," Dom said. "What could they be up to? Some sort of big announcement? Maybe Vince got a promotion. Maybe he proposed to his girlfriend."

"Maybe your daughter got knocked up and she's too scared to tell you without backup," Letty put in.

"That's not even funny, Let."

"The look of panic on your face is though," Brian said with a laugh then ducked away from Dom's fist. They both tried to look innocent when Mia scolded them from the back porch.

They were unpacking the chips and beer when Vince's car pulled up. He got out and went around to the trunk to unload a beat-up cardboard box as his cousin went into the backyard to gather the adults. They came to sit at the table, looking at her warily.

"I swear to God if you're going to tell us you're pregnant someone is going to die," Dom threatened.

She laughed. "Dad, seriously? This is not about me. This is about you guys."

"What?" Mia asked. "What's this about?"

Vince lugged over the box and set it heavily on the table. Brian was the first one who seemed to recognize it.

"Oh, shit," he muttered.

"You guys have some explaining to do," Vince said, tossing a file at his father.

Brian opened it up to see his own mug shot.

Dom glanced at it over his shoulder then groaned. "This is going to take a long time. And a lot more beer."

Mia looked at her son. "What do you guys want to know?"

Her niece scowled. "For starters, why didn't you ever tell us?"

"It didn't seem important," Dom offered. "That's all in the past."

"It's still your life!" his daughter shot back. "A hell of a lot of your lives. And you kept it from us."

Letty sighed. "Because it's a complicated, fucked-up part of our lives. It's not pretty."

"We got that much," Vince said, indicating the box. "We need the details. The whys."

Mia glanced at her brother somewhat helplessly and he sighed, rubbing at the top of his head.

"You guys have had good lives," he began. "You haven't had to worry about money, about trying to keep a business running. You have your families, us. We've been here to take care of you."

Vince was sitting down now and his daughter had a somber look on her face.

"You don't realize, most of the time," Dom continued. "How lucky you are. We all had different situations… but we ended up without our parents to look out for us. We made our own family, but that didn't mean we were ready for the kind of responsibilities we had. Money became an issue. There was only so far the garage could support us – and I stubbornly insisted that Mia went to college."

"Fat lot of good that did me," she muttered.

"You always put that medical knowledge to work stitching up your brother on the numerous times he tried to get himself killed," Brian replied.

"I could do without the comments from the peanut gallery," Dom said drily and Letty shook her head.

"So you started to hijack trucks because of money problems?" Vince asked.

"It's the simplest explanation," Dom said. "And that was what led to everything else. We were on the run after that. Or at least I was."

"I want to know how Mom came back from the dead," his daughter stated suddenly, after a beat of silence.

"Tales of my death have been greatly exaggerated," Letty deadpanned.

"Some M.E. fell asleep on the job," Brian offered.

"And caused us all a lot of unnecessary suffering," Mia added.

"Shaw had his hands in everything," Dom said. "He knew he could use Letty and later that he could use her against me."

"Shaw was a piece of shit," Mia complained.

"Good riddance," Letty muttered with a sigh. "The point is I was never dead. It was simple misinformation."

"Just relieved to hear you're not a zombie," Vince said, and then dived away from his cousin's fist as everyone laughed.

The mood around the table lightened.

"I really want to know how you pulled that plane out of the air," Vince said as Brian stood to get some more beers for everyone.

"No, tell the story about Rio," his cousin interjected.

"Yeah, I wasn't around for that one," Letty agreed.

The stories and laughter filled the yard for the rest of the evening. Turned out that some of the stuff had been pretty damn awesome.


	28. An Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad chapter alert!

It was a Saturday night like any other these days. Dom and Letty got to enjoy some time alone as their daughter was out with some friends. She said they were all driving out to the beach to 'hang out', but they acknowledged that there was probably some drinking going on. On one level they didn't really approve, but they had also taught their daughter well enough to not drink and drive. So they were prepared to go and pick her up if need be.

So tonight they enjoyed the quiet meal for two then settled down on the couch to watch a movie. Letty curled against Dom, his arm around her in the darkened space. He turned to smile and nuzzle her temple. Her hair smelled like shampoo and engine oil, cause she lived in cars just like him.

"Just like old times," he murmured and she chuckled softly, tilting her head to kiss him. His hand came up to cup her jaw, slowly deepening the kiss.

He was pushing her back along the length of the couch, movie forgotten, when the phone rang. Groaning against his mouth, Letty pushed at his chest, and then sighed when they drew apart.

"Probably your daughter calling for her ride home," she laughed as he made a face at her and sat up to reach for the phone.

However it was not his daughter's voice he heard on the other end of the phone when he picked it up. Instead there was a woman sounding uncertain, asking if he was 'Mister Toretto' in the kind of voice that made him think of school administrators calling home or something else equally official.

"Yeah, that's me, who is this?"

Letty was sitting up, reaching over to mute the television as he listened to the woman carefully explain that she was calling from the hospital and that there had been an accident.

"Is my daughter all right?" he demanded, interrupting her.

"She is in surgery right now, Mr. Toretto. We recommend you come down immediately."

"What the hell is going on?" Letty asked, looking at him worriedly.

"We're on our way," he replied to the receptionist, then hung up, looking at his wife. "Car accident. Not sure what caused it but we have to get to the hospital."

"The hospital? What the fuck happened?" she stood up though, grabbing her shoes and jacket as Dom shoved his wallet into his pocket and grabbed his car keys from the counter.

"I don't know. Obviously it was bad if she's in surgery."

Together they hurried out the house to Dom's car and he was pulling out of the driveway before Letty buckled up, jerking the wheel as he upshifted and sped off.

"Did they say if she was okay?" Letty asked, pulling out her phone to text Mia, unable to stay still in her seat, anxious and scared in a way she hadn't been before. Even when she'd been looking her own death in the face.

"Nothing other than the fact that she was in surgery. We'll have to talk to the doctors when we get there, okay? It's going to be okay, baby."

Though he was scared as well, and Letty could hear it in his voice, he reached over to squeeze her hand. She turned hers to lace their fingers together and held on.

"Mia's going to meet us at the hospital," she said when her phone buzzed in reply.

Dom nodded, taking the exit off the highway to get to the hospital. He was feeling sick to his stomach and so, so scared. He could remember bringing the baby girl home from this very hospital only sixteen years ago. He could remember holding her tiny body in his arms like it was yesterday. He could remember every first, from her first word to her first tooth, the first steps she took. Her childhood love of cars that had only blossomed as she grew older. He could remember the way she'd smiled at them that afternoon as she'd run out the back door, bag of beach supplies slung over her shoulder, giant sunglasses on. She'd waved and said 'Don't wait up' with a little wink as she tugged the back door shut behind her.

At the hospital Dom quickly found a parking space and they walked into the emergency room holding hands. Letty's face looked so pale. If she'd been anyone else he might have thought she was going to faint. But he just squeezed her hand as they stepped up to the front desk. The woman there couldn't offer them much more information, but assured them the doctor would be out to speak with them soon. She gave them some paperwork, which Dom looked at with irritation even as he embraced the distraction of filling it out.

He was halfway through the second sheet when Mia came in through the hospital doors, making a beeline for them. She hugged Letty tightly, then him.

"Brian and Vince are out looking for a parking space. Any news?"

He only shook his head. "We don't even know what happened yet."

"Mister Toretto?" there was a small voice coming from the doors that led from the emergency room out to the waiting room.

Dom looked up to see Liana, his daughter's best friend. She was with her mother, who was looking just as upset as he felt, her eyes puffy and her face taut. Liana's arm was wrapped in a cast, a blue sling holding it against her chest. Her face was bruised, dark skin mottled and purpled and gashed at her temple where she'd obviously had stitches, small bandages stark white against her skin and the bruising. Her clothes were bloody. But she was still standing here talking to him.

His daughter wasn't.

He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so he was grateful when Mia beckoned the girl over.

"Liana, can you tell us what happened?" she asked.

The girl nodded weakly after glancing up at her mother, who offered a small, encouraging smile.

"Well uh… we were at the beach with a bunch of people from school. Even though some people brought beer and stuff we didn't drink. I mean… we had to drive home and we didn't want to have to call and bother you so we just decided we weren't going to drink." She looked down a little; because she knew they'd had drinks before at other gatherings and they really weren't supposed to. She thought maybe the Torettos wouldn't really care, but her mom had been mad about it.

Swallowing she looked up at them again, her dark eyes teary. "I swear it wasn't our fault. Someone said that the cops were going to come and bust us so we had to split. And… and she was driving and she's a good driver you know. She wasn't being stupid. We buckled up and we weren't drunk but these other guys were and… we were going to get on the highway and the light was green but those guys… they just went right through the red light and they hit us and it was on the driver's side and the car just… rolled and rolled a lot and I think I was screaming and I knew my arm was broken but I was really out of it when the paramedics came. I'm really sorry." She began to cry. "It was my idea to go to the beach. She's not gonna die is she?"

"No," Mia assured. "No she's going to be fine, Sweetheart. Thank you for telling us."

Once Liana's mother had led her away Dom dropped his head, closing his eyes as Letty muttered a prayer under her breath. He forgot about the stupid paperwork, reaching for her hand and holding on. He held Mia's words in his head. She's going to be fine, she's going to be fine. It was like a mantra. If he repeated it enough it would be true.

Brian and Vince soon joined them in the waiting room, Mia explaining softly as she took the paperwork from Dom to finish filling out. He wrapped his arm around Letty who snuggled into his side wordlessly. She burrowed her face against his chest and he tangled his hand into her long hair as they sat and waited.

It seemed like hours before the doctor appeared, asking for them. Dom and Letty stood, going through the doors with him. He shook their hands with a smile.

"Your daughter is going to be just fine."

And just like that, the Earth settled around them, both of them sagging in relief. Letty turned her head but Dom had caught a glimpse of shiny tears in her eyes.

The doctor motioned for them to follow him down the hall. "They're just getting her settled in recovery and she'll have to be here for a little while longer. A few days, a week or so. We'll see how it goes. We had to operate because of internal bleeding. She did break some bones, including several of her ribs, one of which punctured her lungs. The damage has been repaired. We set the bones could. She has some additional lacerations and bruising but the internal bleeding was the worst of the damage." He stopped outside a room where the door was slightly open and the faint beeping of machines drifted out to them. "The anesthesia should wear off within the hour so she'll be able to talk to you, but she's on pain killers so don't expect it to be very lucid."

Without another word he motioned them to the doorway, aware that what they really wanted was to see their daughter and reassure themselves.

Once inside the room they saw her, looking pale even tucked in amongst the stark white sheets. Her dark hair was fanned across the pillow and her face was bruised along the left side. She had small scratches across her face and neck, and another dark bruise across her chest disappearing under the hospital gown, likely from her seat belt. There were lines hooked up to her wrists and arms, feeding in drugs or nutrients. A small plastic cap over one finger led to the beeping machine, monitoring her heartbeat. Her lips were parted, dark lashes crescents against her cheeks. If not for the injuries she would look peacefully asleep.

Letty stepped up to the side of the bed, brushing her daughter's hair away from her forehead carefully, examining the little injuries that marred her face, focusing on the steady movement of her chest as she breathed in and out. She was really going to be okay. She wanted to take the girl's hand, but there were all those wires and lines in the way. Instead she pulled the chair up beside the bed so that when the girl opened her eyes she would see her. Dom stood behind her for a moment, squeezed her shoulder and then let out a sigh.

"I need to go tell Mia and Brian," he murmured.

"Yeah. I'll wait here."

Letty watched her daughter sleep in a way she hadn't since the girl had been an infant just home from the hospital. That same, low-level panic was nestled in her chest. Just like when they'd brought her home for the first time, clueless about how to raise a child or deal with a baby. And yet, somehow they'd managed. They'd raised her into this amazing, smart, beautiful young woman who was all the best parts of both of them. The thought that they could have lost her was terrifying. All those stupid stunts, all the crazy shit they'd pulled back in the day and they'd lived through it. There was no way that their daughter was going to die because of an accident.

Mia, Brian and Vince came back with Dom, sat with them for a while until visiting hours were over. Letty and Dom remained of course, sitting vigil by the sleeping teen's bedside, taking turns going down to the cafeteria though neither of them could summon up the appetite to eat much.

Letty was half asleep in the chair, Dom standing near the window staring out solemnly when a soft groan attracted both their attention. Their daughter slowly opened her eyes to find them both staring at her. She blinked rapidly, dark eyes clouded with the haze of painkillers. Her body felt heavy and numb, which was probably better than how it would feel without painkillers.

"Mami? Papi?" Her voice was weak, scratchy and Dom moved to help her sip some water from a plastic cup the nurse had brought in earlier. "What happened?"

"There was an accident," Letty explained carefully, all too familiar with those first moments of confusion upon waking up after one. "You were hurt and you had to have surgery."

The girl looked at them a moment before the confusion slipped away. "I remember…." Her face crumpled then. "My car's wrecked," she moaned, closing her eyes.

Her parents exchanged a glance, relief in their eyes. She was surely going to be just fine.

"We'll fix the car," Dom said, reaching out to smooth her dark hair. "We're just glad you're okay, baby."

She smiled a little, lifting a hand weakly to squeeze his wrist. "I'm okay. I better hurry up and heal so I can get back in the garage."

They laughed, the somber mood lifting from the little hospital room. Everything was going to be just fine.


	29. A Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one is surprised these kids get in trouble.

It was only natural to be a little nervous. It was the first time they were going away, all four of them, leaving the kids behind. For a full weekend, no less. It was true enough that Vince was 19 now, a college student who had been steered down a path of responsibility by his mother. His 16 year-old cousin was the less-behaved of the two, but they had made it clear to Vince that he was in charge, and that he was expected to exercise his adult responsibility.

Mia was certain he would keep everything under control. Mostly.

It was only a weekend.

It had actually been Brian's idea to take a weekend trip to Vegas. They'd been working particularly hard at the garage when he brought it up, citing that they would all enjoy a little gambling, and a little time away from the kids. Mia had thought about a morning spent at the spa and talked Letty into agreeing to go with her. The weekend was all planned. Well, loosely structured. It was a vacation, after all.

So they closed the garage on Friday and left Thursday night after work, piled into Dom's car, Brian riding shot gun while the girls sat in the back. It was like old times, only with less hijacking and danger. Vince promised to pick his cousin up after school on Friday and promised to make sure she did her homework and crossed his heart that the house would be just as clean as his mother left it when they got back on Sunday night.

As they drove off, Dom told his sister that it was highly unlikely.

"Why?" she asked, scooting to get comfortable in the back seat. "He knows how to clean up after himself."

"Yeah when you supervise," Dom answered, laughing.

"That's true," Brian added. "I've seen his room."

Mia frowned to herself. "Oh god. I just hope he doesn't throw a party or something."

"Yeah," Letty laughed. "That's totally going to happen, by the way."

"What?" Mia turned her head to look at her, narrowing her eyes. "Why would you say that?"

"Because what would your brother have done when he was 19?"

"Thrown a party," Mia admitted.

"And what would Brian have done when he was 19?" Letty asked.

"Thrown a party," he put in from the front seat.

Sighing, Mia slumped in defeat. "You guys suck. I want to enjoy my vacation. Now I'm going to be worrying about it."

"Don't sweat it, girl," Letty said, sitting back in her seat looking totally relaxed. "Vince is too smart to break or damage anything important. If they do anything really stupid we'll ground them for eternity when we get home. Just enjoy the vacation and don't think about it."

"Words of wisdom," Dom agreed. "Enough about the kids. We're officially on vacation."

0000

"We are officially done with vacation," Dom said as they pulled down the street where Brian and Mia's house was. He slowed as they approached, and it didn't miss anyone's notice that there were an awful lot of cars crowding the street, filling the long driveway and even blocking it. It was after midnight on a Sunday night, but all the lights on the house were on, and as they pulled up in front of the house they could hear the faint thump of music.

"You have got to be kidding me," Mia groaned, looking up and down the block. "My house is going to be a disaster area!"

Dom parked the car alongside his daughter's car, because she sure as hell wasn't going anywhere. "Let's go take care of this," he told them as he climbed out of the car, the rest of them following suit. "Brian, Mia, you two head around back. We don't want anyone fleeing the scene."

"What are you going to do?" Mia asked as they slipped between the cars parked tightly together.

"I guess we'll find out," he replied, heading for the front door.

Letty followed him as the other two disappeared around the side of the house. Dom opened the door and the music was competing with the sounds of people talking, laughing. In the front room two card tables had been shoved together and some people were playing the timeless game of beer pong. Some kids were crowded around the television playing a video game. Two couples were making out on the couch. Through the front room to the dining room they caught a glimpse of the table that was laden with bottles of hard liquor, plastic cups and a pair of large metal tubs full of beers chilling in mostly melted ice water. There were boxes of pizza, mostly empty, stacked atop a chair. Used cups and plates were scattered across the table or other empty surfaces. Mia was surely going to lose it.

Letty was standing beside him, open-mouthed. She glanced up at her husband. "I can't believe they had the nerve to pull this on the day we were coming home," she muttered.

"I bet the party started yesterday," he replied.

He was about to head for the kitchen to see what had happened with Mia and Brian when he heard his sister's voice carrying briefly over the music, to the tune of what sounded like 'what the hell were you thinking?'

"Sounds like they found Vince," Letty said.

But Dom barely heard her, catching sight of his daughter coming down the stairs, a beer bottle in her hand, wearing a pair of ripped up tiny cut-off shorts and a tight red tank top. Some guy he didn't know had his arm around her shoulders and she was grinning at him while he said something. Said guy also looked far too old to have his hands on Dom's daughter. He was probably one of Vince's college friends. But whoever he was, he was about to get his ass kicked.

Dom was halfway to the steps when his daughter noticed him and her dark eyes went wide. She shoved her beer into the mystery guy's hand and hastily stepped out from under his arm, hurrying down the steps. "Papi!" she said, her voice overly loud and nervous. Her gaze skipped past his shoulder to her mother, whom she looked at pleadingly. Letty only shook her head, looking disappointed.

She crossed to the stereo and hit the power, dropping the house into sudden silence. Lots of kids turned to stare. Some immediately got the picture, abandoning their drinks or games and booking it for the door.

Those who didn't move continued to stare as Dom glared murderously at the guy on the steps. "Everybody out!" he shouted.

Kids scattered, and the guy on the stairs tried to make his own escape. Dom pointed at him. "Not you."

The guy froze.

Once the house was mostly empty, Mia and Brian came out of the kitchen with Vince, who was looking incredibly guilty. He refused to look at his cousin or aunt and uncle, choosing to stare at his feet instead.

"What's your name?" Dom asked the guy who had put his hands on his daughter.

"Uh… Michael," he managed to reply, taking a slow step back.

"Michael. I better not see you ever again. And especially not around my sixteen year old daughter. Got it?"

Eyes wide, Michael nodded hastily.

"Good. Get the fuck out."

Michael didn't need to be told twice.

When the teens and their parents were alone there was silence once again, guilty shifting of feet by the younger generation. Finally, Mia prodded her son in the back.

"Vincent. Why don't you apologize to Uncle Dom and Aunt Letty? They trusted you to be the adult here. We trusted you to. We're all very disappointed. In both of you."

Vince shuffled slightly. "I didn't mean to let it get so out of control… and I… know we shouldn't have been drinking cause we're all underage… but I thought you guys would be chill... Like didn't you have parties when you were my age?"

"That's not the point," Brian said slowly. "The point is that your cousin is only 16 years old and you had her drinking at a party with college guys. You were not being responsible in the least. You know we're not that strict about letting you have some beers but there's a huge difference between a couple of beers with your family and all this," he gestured to the collection of alcohol on the table, "with a bunch of other underage kids."

"You know you could have gotten arrested if one of the neighbors had called the cops to complain," Mia said. "And look at my house! It's a wreck. What were you thinking Vincent Jesse?"

Vince cringed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I guess I wasn't thinking…" he muttered.

"Well you'll have time to think about it when you're cleaning this whole house," Mia replied. "And when you're grounded for the rest of the month."

"Mom!" he gasped. "Grounded? I'm nineteen!"

"You sure as hell weren't acting nineteen. Now get to work." She pointed to the kitchen and he trudged back in that direction, her hot on his heels.

Brian looked at the other two. "See you guys at the garage tomorrow," he muttered, already looking exhausted as he contemplated the night ahead.

Nodding, Dom turned away to look at his daughter, who was silently standing at the foot of the stairs trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Get in the car," he ordered and she hurriedly complied, booking it out the front door.

Letty and Dom followed her. Wisely, she bypassed her own vehicle and slid into the back of her Dad's car, still silent, as though she could wipe the earlier memory of her bad behavior away by being as quiet as possible. Once her parents were in the car they sat there in mutual silence for a moment. Then Letty turned around in her seat to look at her in disbelief.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded.

"It was Vince's idea?" the teen offered weakly.

"Try again," her mother said. "I'm betting it was a joint effort."

"Well… we uh… I mean we just wanted to have a few friends over and hang out. But then they invited more people and they invited people and then it went around at V's college campus and soon there were just a lot of people there, and they brought most of the booze…"

"And I bet they forced you to drink that booze too, huh?" Dom asked, eyebrow raised as he met her gaze in the rearview mirror.

She dropped her head shamefully. "No…"

"Not to mention the fact that you didn't seem to have made your friend Michael there aware of how young you were," Letty said.

"Mamiiiii," the girl whined. "It didn't come up. He's only 20… that's like the difference between you and Dad."

"Don't even start with that," Letty replied. "You are not us. And you hardly knew that boy. You do not get drunk at parties with strange boys."

Sighing, the girl nodded her head. "Yes Mami."

"Now tomorrow after school you're coming over here to help Vince clean Aunt Mia's whole house," Dom said, starting up the engine on his car. "You will clean it until she says it's spotless. And you're grounded. For the next two months."

She gaped. " _Two months?_ Vince only got one!"

"Yeah well you don't have Vince's parents. "

"You suck," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she sulked low in her seat.

"I bet you'll never do it again, will you?" Letty asked, turning to face forward again, buckling her seat belt.

"I want new parents," she complained instead of replying, staring out the window as her father pulled down the street and headed for home.

"Maybe if you behave yourself we'll consider shortening it," Dom said. The teen sighed and sulked quietly in the back seat and he turned to look at his wife. She shook her head, small smile on her lips.

"I wish we were still on vacation," she murmured.


	30. A Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy Mother's Day themed chapter.

"Mami let me take you out for Mother's Day," her daughter said to her one afternoon.

She had been sitting at the kitchen table going over some of the bills and paperwork from the garage, wearing her lazy around the house clothes, a pair of black sweat-shorts and an old t-shirt. Her dark hair was bundled on top of her head. She looked up from the file she was studying, wiggling her pen between her fingers as she regarded the teenager in the doorway.

"Are you serious? What the hell are we going to do?" Letty couldn't remember a time that her daughter had ever wanted to do 'Mother-daughter' shit with her. It seemed a little odd she'd suddenly want to, now that she was 17.

"Oh you know, I thought pedicures and brunch, then maybe some shopping," the girl deadpanned, and then laughed at the expression on her mother's face. "Come on, Mami. I swear you'll have fun. Just trust me."

Letty frowned a little, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, but you know we always have that barbeque at Aunt Mia's place."

"We'll be back in time." She grinned, a secret, delighted sort of smile. "This is going to be great!" Then she disappeared up the stairs to her room.

Letty stared after her suspiciously, and then turned back to her work. That girl was up to something.

0000

She'd nearly forgotten about it a week later when the holiday had actually rolled around. But her daughter hadn't and she poked her head into the kitchen at 9 am, where her mother was lingering over the newspaper with a bagel and some coffee.

"Don't forget we're going out," the teen said with a grin. "Be ready by 10."

Before Letty could question her, the girl ducked back out of the kitchen and hurried upstairs. She frowned, wondering where on Earth Dom had disappeared to before she went up to her room to shower and dress.

It was a quarter to 10 when she came down the stairs to find her daughter waiting impatiently for her. "Oh good," she grinned. "Ready to go?"

"Where are we going?" Letty asked, following her out to the driveway.

"It's a surprise," the girl replied, unlocking her car. "So I'm driving."

Sighing, Letty slid into the passenger side. "Didn't your father tell you I hate surprises?"

"He said you liked to say you hate surprises but you actually really like them. And he said that my surprise was awesome and you're going to love it."

"He said that did he?" Letty inquired, smirking out the window.

"Mmm hmmm. Just sit back and relax Mami. This is going to be the best Mother's Day ever."

After a while Letty gave up on trying to figure it out, and relaxed back in her seat, watching the familiar scenery out the window. She reached over to change the radio station, and was pleasantly surprised when her daughter didn't even protest. She could get used to this Mother's Day treatment.

It wasn't long before they were taking an exit off the highway that had her eyes widening. "We're going to the races?"

Her daughter only grinned at her as she drove on. But they soon pulled into the parking lot for one of the larger racetracks in southern California. Letty knew that they weren't having any big races today, probably just some early heats or practice, but she didn't care. It had been a long time since she'd been to a race. Dom's record from the hijackings on was cleared, but he still was banned from the tracks. He could go to privately owned tracks and drive, or watch amateur races, but nothing like this. It never felt right to go without him, and so she hadn't been.

She had a brief moment of regret that he couldn't be here with her, but then she realized that was why they were going today. It was a special event, just for her and her daughter. Dom wouldn't mind missing it because he thought it was important that the two of them had their time together. In fact, this had probably been all his idea.

They parked and walked towards the entrance, her daughter handing over their tickets. It wasn't crowded on a day like today, too many families out doing much more traditional Mother's Day things. But to Letty this was the perfect way to celebrate. They stood in line for nachos and beer (well a coke for the underaged one), swapped car and racer specs as they settled in their seats, and rooted for their favorites during the various heats.

They wandered down close to observe the pit crews and shout questions at the men working, who grinned and invited them over. The nice thing about being a girl who knew about cars, guys were always more than eager to show off their rides.

On the way back to the car in the mid-afternoon they laughed about their adventures, Letty pleased that the pit crew had mistaken them for sisters, her daughter vaguely disgusted that the men had hit on her mom. Letty put her arm around her daughter, who leaned into her with a smile.

"I love you Mami. Happy Mother's Day."

"I love you too, mija. And you're right. I did love it. The best part was I got to share it all with you."


	31. A Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A child asks an awkward question

"Papi? Where do babies come from?"

Dom looked up from where he was bent over the hood of a car, blinking down at his 6 year old daughter at his side. She was looking up at him seriously, her little face quite attentive. She had a picture book on cars hugged against her chest.

"What?" he asked, staring. Maybe he'd heard wrong. She was too young to be asking him about this, wasn't she?

"Marco's Mami is having a baby and her belly is all big and round. Marco said the baby is in there. How did it get there? Maggie says babies come from the stork but she's stupid so I don't believe her."

Dom opened his mouth and closed it a few times, glancing around the garage. Letty was nowhere in sight, which meant she was probably in the office dealing with a client over the phone. Brian was nearby, replacing the headlights on a car and doing his best to look totally oblivious, though Dom could see the tiny smirk on his face. He'd get him for that later.

"Uh…" he hesitated, looking down at his daughter as he tried to figure out what to say. Letty would probably be pissed if he told her that the stork really did bring babies, but he also really did not need to be having 'the talk' with his six-year old daughter, or preferably not ever.

That should definitely be her mother's job.

"Why don't you ask Mami?" he suggested, crouching down to look her in the eyes.

"Ask Mami what?" Letty inquired, stepping out of the office.

Their daughter trotted over to her, reaching her arms up and Letty raised a brow, lifting her into her arms. "What is it?"

"Where do babies come from, Mami?"

Letty blanched, then glared at Dom, mouthing the word 'traitor' to him. Her mind raced and she carried the child back over to her husband's side, leaning one hip against the car he was working on.

"Let's see if Mami and Papi can figure out a way to explain this that you'll understand," she said and Dom sighed, tossing down the tool in his hand. There was no way Letty was going to let him get out of this.

"First…" Letty began. "What do you know about babies?"

The little girl frowned thoughtfully, chewing on her lower lip. "Marco's Mami has a baby in her belly."

"Okay so you know babies come from Mommies. Right?"

The girl nodded. "But how does it get there? Does the Mami eat something?"

Letty stifled a laugh. "No that's not how the baby gets there. It's not really in her tummy. There's a special place inside the Mami that is just for babies."

The child looked vaguely confused, dropping her gaze to her mother's stomach and then poking at it. Letty chuckled, looking over at Dom like 'give me a hand here', but he only shook his head, eyes wide with fear.

She sighed. "So… when a man and a woman… or a Mami and a Papi… decide they really like each other,"

"When they love each other," Dom input, even though she made a face at him. He didn't need his daughter thinking that mere like could lead to two people having babies together. At least not until she was 50.

"When they love each other," Letty finished, though she thought it sounded so cliché. "They can decide to have a baby together. Or maybe sometimes it's a surprise."

"How?" the little girl chirped. "Is it like building a car?"

"No…" Letty replied slowly. "It's not like that." The world might be a simpler place if people had to have some knowledge in order to create babies, but she kept that thought to herself. "It's something that humans and animals can do together, to make babies. Only grown-ups can do it."

"Like kissing?" their daughter asked, peering up at them curiously. "Jamie at school says his Mommy and Daddy wrestle naked."

Dom groaned and Letty closed her eyes, letting out a long breath so that she wouldn't laugh. "Yeah well you shouldn't listen to everything the other kids tell you at school. One day you'll be older and you'll understand. Right now you shouldn't worry about it too much."

The girl tilted her head. "Okay Mami." She looked at her. "But I don't want you and Papi to have a baby okay?"

Letty laughed at that. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I like that it's just me and Mami and Papi," she replied, as if it were obvious.

Dom chuckled, taking her from Letty and hugging her. "We're not going to have another baby," he assured. In fact, it was something he and Letty had already discussed, when their daughter had still been fairly small. They were fine with just having one child. She had her cousin and plenty of friends to play with and keep her from being lonely. The plain truth of the matter was that Letty wasn't really interested in being pregnant again, and he could respect that.

The little girl grinned, and then wrapped her arms around him happily. "Good!" She kissed his cheek with a loud smacking noise that made him laugh.

He set her down and she smiled up at them. "I help with fixing cars today?"

"Sure thing, Sweetheart," Dom replied. "Go get your tools."

When the child scurried off to pull her child's tool box out from under one of the work benches he turned to look at Letty and smirked.

"Great job explaining baby making without actually explaining it," he said.

"She's six. She'd have believed it if I said the baby came from eating a magic bean. Details are lost on kids that age."

He laughed. "If only it would stay so easy."

She grinned. "Trust me, Papi. I'm not the one who's going to be sweating when she's a teenager."

"Cruel woman. You are so cruel."

Letty laughed, wrapping her arms around him and leaning up to kiss him slowly. "Mmm I sure am. I can show you how mean I am next time we have our own naked wrestling match," she murmured.

"Letty," he complained, pushing her away. "You're a sick woman." But he was laughing as his daughter sidled up beside him with a tiny wrench in her hand. He ruffled her dark hair as Letty walked away to get back to work on a car with a faulty transmission. He looked down at his little girl and smiled. "Okay, you'll be Papi's assistant. Ready to get to work?"

She nodded brightly, blessedly having forgotten all about where babies came from. Dom leaned over the car hood to take stock of where he'd left off, then the child piped up beside him.

"Papi…what's a skank?"

Dom groaned.


	32. An Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one relates back to an earlier chapter where Dom found out his daughter was having sex. Letty comes home to deal with the fallout.

It was nearing 8:30 when Letty's car pulled into the driveway and Dom was still at the kitchen table, taking care of the household expenses and stubbornly not thinking about what he'd found earlier that evening. He glanced up when his wife came through the back door. She smiled at him, tossing her car keys on the counter before crossing to kiss him softly. She pulled back to look at him.

"What's wrong?"

He smiled wryly. "That easy to read huh?"

"No," she laughed. "I just know you."

She sat down across from him and he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as he pushed the bills aside.

"You're going to tell me I over-reacted," he said.

She smiled. "Maybe. I'm guessing this has something to do with a certain teenage daughter of ours?"

"And her certain teenage boyfriend," he muttered.

She wrinkled her nose slightly. "Did you catch them in the act?"

"Close enough," he groaned. "It wasn't really hard to figure out what they'd been up to."

Letty sighed, reaching over to rest her hand on his. "Dom… I hate to tell you this, but it's not like she's been a virgin for a while."

"You mean you knew about this?" he asked, staring at her.

"Don't give me that look," she said, raising a brow at him. "She told me because she knew I wouldn't be a big fat hypocrite about it."

"Letty," he warned.

"Dom," she replied drily. "She is 17. Not to mention she's our daughter. She's not going to save herself till her wedding. Please don't tell me that's what you were expecting."

"Okay, no fine. I wasn't… well… maybe I was hoping," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to be comfortable with the idea."

"Well you shouldn't be. She's uncomfortable with the idea of us having sex too." She laughed at his expression. "It's not like I patted her on the head and let her do whatever she wanted. We got her on the pill. And she knows to use protection. She's not stupid enough to get knocked up and fuck up her life."

Dom dropped his head, feeling overwhelmed. "When did this happen?"

"Last year. When she told me she was thinking about taking the next step with her boyfriend." Letty sighed, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. "Look, I know you're probably never going to be 100% okay with her having a sex life, but it's kind of a reality you have to face. I wish my mom had cared enough to talk to me about this stuff. Sure as hell would have saved me a lot of damn trouble."

"So I'm just supposed to let this go?" he asked, disbelief in his face.

"Dom, honestly? Yes. How old were you when you lost your virginity? Younger than 16, that's for sure. She's a good kid. She works hard at school; she works hard at the garage. She's going to go to college, just like you wanted. She hasn't gotten arrested. She's not out hijacking trucks or something. She's already a hell of a lot better off than we were. We can't expect her to be some pristine little angel. If we wanted that we probably shouldn't have combined _our_ genes to make a new person."

He laughed a little at that, then leaned back in his seat. "I guess you're right."

"I usually am."

"Don't be a smartass," he complained. "Your daughter is still pissed at me."

"Yeah well, that's to be expected. I'll go talk to her, okay?" She stood, leaning down to press a kiss against the top of his head and let him wrap his arms around her and press his face against her stomach. She smiled.

"I liked it better when she was still in diapers," he said, his voice muffled against her shirt.

She laughed and rubbed the top of his head. "Can't last forever, Papa."

Letty pulled away, starting up the stairs to knock on the door to her daughter's room.

"Go away," came the response through the doorway and Letty rolled her eyes.

"It's me," she replied.

There was a pause, then the sound of her daughter getting up and crossing to unlock the door. It eased open slightly and the girl peered out at her before tugging the door slowly open and stepping back to let her in.

Letty pulled the door closed behind her as the teen crossed back to her bed and flopped down, reaching for her discarded tablet.

"So I heard you had an interesting… conversation with your father."

"Conversation is a generous term, Mami. He kicked Carlos out of the house and threatened him to never come back."

"Okay look, he overreacted but are you really surprised? That is not exactly the best way for your father to find out you're having sex with your boyfriend." Letty paused. "Though I suppose it could have been worse."

"Gross! Mom!" the girl glared at her.

"What? It's true," Letty replied, sitting down at the foot of her bed. "Look. I talked to your father. Carlos is going to be able to come back. But I think maybe you should give him a week or so to get over it. He doesn't like the idea of his little girl growing up."

"He's going to have to deal with it," she complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He will. But you need to cut him a break too. The attitude isn't helpful. Yes, he's being ridiculous about this. But sneaking around behind his back wasn't the way to deal with it. He knows now. Let's just try and make sure he doesn't catch you again. We don't want to see that any more than you want to see us having sex."

"Mom, gross." The teen made a face at her. "And it's not like I haven't _heard_ you guys plenty."

"Oh well, too bad. This is our house. When you get your own place you can do whatever you want in it," Letty replied.

"Does that mean I can move out?"

"One. No. Two. You couldn't afford to rent a cardboard box. Three. We'll discuss that after you graduate."

Her daughter looked at her, a tiny grin quirking the corner of her mouth, then she laughed. "Sounds like a deal." She paused. "So is Papi really going to be okay with it?"

"Eventually. Give him some time, mija." She stroked her dark hair. "Did you eat any dinner?"

"No… I was too busy avoiding him."

Letty laughed. "I don't think he's eaten yet either. Come downstairs and we'll order Chinese."

Her daughter smiled, standing and wrapping her arm around her waist. "Sure. Thanks Mami."


	33. A Tantrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little girl throws a fit.

Tantrums were, thankfully, a rare occurrence. However, that didn't mean they were completely unheard of around the Toretto household. Any home with a three year old child was bound to have to deal with them now and then.

Usually it was because the young child had been forbidden from something, though every now and then there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the child's breakdown and her parents ensuing confusion and frustration would usually only make things worse.

Mia's advice was usually to ignore it until it passed. "Trust me," she said. "She'll get over it faster than you realize."

Of course, it was easier said than done.

It had been a particularly long day at the garage, and it was nearing 9 pm when they finally closed for the night. Mia and Brian went home first while Dom dealt with the last of the paperwork and Letty cleaned up, tucking tools away where they belonged. She side-stepped a complaining three-year old who was getting underfoot with a tired sigh.

"Mami I hungwyyyyyyyy," the child whined, clutching the empty apple juice box she'd been given earlier.

"We're going home soon, mija," Letty said with more patience than she felt, sliding a pair of wrenches into the drawer of a tool chest.

She turned to find her daughter right in front of her, and backed up so she wouldn't trip over her, knocking back into the chest with a clatter. Pressing her lips together to avoid the curse she wanted to utter she grabbed the little girl by the arm.

"You have to sit down and wait for Mami and Papi to finish up. When you get in the way it only makes it take longer."

"But I hungwy," the girl complained, dragging her sneakered feet across the concrete.

"I don't have any more snacks to give you. So you're just going to have to wait. Sit down and behave."

Letty turned back to cleaning the garage, piling up some damaged parts to be recycled the next day. She was so focused on her work she almost missed the pathetic little sniffling from the other side of the garage. Sighing, she dropped her head and turned to look over at her daughter. The three-year old was sitting sprawled on the floor where she'd left her, eyes squeezed shut and huge tears rolling down her round face. Then the girl opened her mouth wide and began to wail loudly, her cries echoing through the garage as she repeated how hungry she was over and over. Letty closed her eyes, praying briefly for patience as she finished up her work.

Dom walked out of the office. "What the hell happened?" he demanded.

"She wants food, she skipped her nap this afternoon and we're still stuck at the garage," Letty replied, exasperation in her voice. "So it's tantrum time, apparently."

The girl had heaved her empty juice box angrily at the floor and was now sort of rolling around, flailing her limbs as she screamed.

"She does _not_ get this from me," Dom said, staring in horror at his child.

"Whatever Dominic, I do not have the patience to play the blame game. Finish up the paperwork so we can go home and appease the monster."

He muttered something about emotional females that had her staring after him with murder in her gaze as he went back into the office. Letty's ears were aching from the screaming of her daughter and she really had to say that Mia's 'Just ignore it' advice was not cutting it. She threw a few more parts into one of the toolboxes and rounded on her daughter, snapping her name sharply. The girl's wails ceased and she stared at her mother with wide, dark eyes.

"That. Is. Enough." Letty said slowly. "We are all hungry. Crying about it is not going to get you your food any faster."

For a long moment the girl blinked up at her, sniffling, and Letty almost thought it had worked, until she started crying again, this time about how 'mean Mami was'. She half walked, half crawled her way to the office, hugging at Dom's leg with her little arms and pressing her teary, snotty face against his pant leg as he attempted to finish up the phone call with a client and explain about the crying child.

He hung up, rubbing a hand over his face, now equally as exasperated as his wife. Shutting off the computer he picked up his daughter with one arm, reaching for a tissue to wipe at her face. Unfortunately she only kept on crying, her little voice getting scratchy from the effort.

"Stop crying. You're going to make yourself sick," he told her, carrying her out of the office. "Come on, Let, time to go home."

Together they walked back to Dom's car, doing their best to ignore their fussing daughter. She'd quieted some, but now was squirming around in Dom's arms, limbs flailing. One little hand whapped him in the face and he turned his head, tucking her under his arm as he unlocked the car and then wrestled her into her car seat. She struggled, fighting for freedom as he strapped her down. Dom quickly backed away before he took a tiny fist to the nose, and turned to look at Letty watching them.

"She definitely gets _that_ from you," he said, closing the door on the screaming child. Letty only raised a brow at him before getting into the passenger's seat.

By the time Dom had gotten into the car the child's wailing had lessened to moans and sniffles randomly punctuated by 'Mami'. He turned to pull out of the lot and onto the road, glancing at his wife who looked back at him.

"Sometimes I have no idea why you wanted children," she muttered, then yelped when he reached over to pinch her thigh.

"Thankfully this isn't a common occurrence," he replied, glancing into the back seat where their daughter was kicking her feet and straining against her car seat, though her cries had quieted to sniffles and the occasional whine. "I think she's going to wear herself out before we even get home and make her something to eat."

"That only means she'll be up in the middle of the night grumpy and starving," Letty said. "Just swing by In-N-Out on the way home."

Dom and Letty could hardly be considered proponents of healthy living, but at home they usually always made their own meals. It also worked out well because they had so rarely given their daughter things like French fries and chicken nuggets that she didn't even seem to be aware of what McDonald's was and would eat almost anything that was put in front of her.

Of course there were certainly times when it was convenient to go to a drive thru, especially after pulling a late day at the garage. While some parents might have balked at the idea of letting their kids have even one fast food meal a month they certainly didn't see anything wrong with it.

After a trip through the drive-thru the toddler was silenced with a half a cheese burger fed to her in small bites by her mother over the back of the seat. She contentedly munched on fries, ketchup streaking her cheeks which were still dirty with dried tears. Mid-chew she dozed off, head hanging forward, still holding a fistful of fries that were squished between little fingers.

When they arrived home Letty lifted her daughter out of the car seat while Dom muttered about the state of his car. She left him to wipe down the seats as she carried the little girl inside and up to her bedroom. She used baby wipes to clean her of the worst of her dinner, changing her into her little ninja turtles pajamas. The child slept through it all, worn out from missing her nap and from her exhausting tantrum. She was almost looking like a little angel when Letty finally tucked her in beneath her Toy Story bed sheets. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing dark curls away from her forehead.

She leaned down to press a kiss over her cheek. "Let's try not skipping our nap tomorrow, monster," she murmured, then looked up to see Dom in the doorway.

He was smiling and she crossed to him, slipping her arms around him and leaning in. He dropped a kiss against the top of her head as they watched their child sleep.

"So I guess there's also times when you understand exactly why I wanted to have kids, huh?"

She laughed softly, taking his hand to tug him out of the bedroom, not wanting to wake their sleeping daughter. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed.


	34. A Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teenage daughter has a scare.

This was seriously not happening.

It was an utter nightmare.

She was only a month away from her high school graduation and already enrolled in college for the fall. She had plans with Liana and Emilie for a week long summer vacation that had taken half the year to convince their parents to allow. Things had been going amazing. For the most part.

She thought that her relationship with Carlos was winding down to an end. This could complicate matters. Possibly.

Sighing she pulled into the driveway and turned off her car, sitting anxiously in the driver's seat for several long minutes. She could see the smoke drifting up from the grill in the backyard and she watched as her mother came out the back door with a plate of food in her hands. A moment later her father stepped outside with two beer bottles in one of his hands. He crossed the lawn to wrap his arm around his wife's waist and pull her back against him. She laughed and leaned into him, tilting her head to kiss him as she reached for one of the beers.

She smiled as she watched them, feeling a little pang in her chest. She wanted that, some day. To have someone who loved her unconditionally. Someday she'd have her own family. She only hoped that day was later rather than sooner.

While her parents were distracted she crammed the small box from the local drug store into her hoodie pocket and climbed out of the car, hastily heading in the front door and darting upstairs to the bathroom. She ducked inside and pulled the door closed, locking it.

She sat down on the toilet lid, pulling out the box and staring at it in fear. She could call Liana. As her best friend the other girl would totally have her back, but the truth of the matter was she was way too scared. Plus she didn't want to tell anyone without being sure. She didn't need to freak out her friends and make herself look like an idiot.

She opened the box, read the instructions, then spent about fifteen minutes trying to psych herself up to do it. She breathed in and out slowly, muttering to herself softly.

"It's okay… no big deal. Just… pee on the stick," she murmured. "People do it all the time."

Five more minutes of anxious re-reading the instructions and she finally followed them, setting the test aside to wait for the results. She whimpered under her breath, pulling her legs up against her chest and dropping her head.

"It's fine… totally fine," she breathed.

She was startled by the knock on the door, and almost fell off the toilet seat.

"You okay in there?" came her father's voice from the other side and she clapped her hands over her mouth to prevent the little squeak of fear that wanted to slip free.

"I'm fine, Papi," she finally managed, and winced at the waver in her voice.

"You've been in there for like a half hour. Are you sick?"

She wrinkled her nose, then wracked her brain to try and figure out what to say to make him go away. "Uh… I… just lady problems, Dad!"

"Okay then," he replied, hastily departing.

She sighed and dropped her head in momentary relief, before reaching over to look at the test. She stared at it, then let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Negative.

Thank god.

She tucked it back into its box and was about to toss it in the trash when she remembered that her Dad was the one who emptied all the trash bins in the house. Her eyes widened. She'd better take it out to the garbage pail herself.

She washed her hands, then shoved the box into her hoodie pocket and unlocked the bathroom door, yanking it open and heading for the stairs. She fairly flew down them, only to run straight into her father's chest as she hit the bottom, him coming around the corner from the kitchen.

The box slipped out of her pocket and bounced off the bottom stair, landing beside the test on the floor at her feet. She stared at it, open-mouthed, her cheeks pink, wishing that the floor would open up into a hole she could disappear into as her father eyed it with an unreadable expression.

Maybe he didn't know what it was. Maybe she could lie through her teeth and tell him it was some fancy new toothbrush or a really weird tampon or something.

He crossed his arms in front of her, expression hardening and she took a small step back, knowing there was no way she was lying her way out of this one. That didn't mean she wouldn't try.

"Hi, Papi," she smiled brightly. "Is dinner ready?"

He raised his brows, then pointed to the test on the floor. "Explain."

"That is… just some trash I need to take outside."

"I know what it is. Are you pregnant?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head hastily. "No. No, I swear Papi. It's just… it was just uh… I bought it for Mami?"

"Nice try, but no. You're not pregnant?"

She shook her head hastily, wisely staying silent.

"But you thought you might be?"

Looking down she nodded quietly, biting down on her lower lip. "We were always careful but… you know… it's not 100% fool proof."

"Carlos?" he asked.

She was faintly stunned that he wasn't yelling, or angry. She supposed this was because he already knew she was having sex, even if he hated that she was. But a part of her was also scared, that he might be that calm sort of angry that was worse than when he was actually yelling at her. To his question she could only nod.

"Yeah… I uh… I had been planning to break up with him," she said with a cringe. "So I guess it's good that I'm not uh… you know."

"You're damn lucky," he said, looking at her seriously. "Do you know how much that would have changed your life? A baby is not something to be taken lightly."

"I _know_ , Dad, I know." She nodded. "I mean… Mom already had this whole talk with me but I'm not dumb. I don't want a baby now. I mean I'm only 17! I want to have fun while I'm young and I want to go to school and I don't need that kind of responsibility. I have my whole life ahead of me. Believe me, I know."

"I'm glad to hear you say it, but like you said, there are no guarantees," he replied, indicating the test on the floor.

She leaned down to pick it up. "What do you want me to say, Papi? That I swear off sex till I get married?"

"That would be nice," he replied. "But I know it's unlikely. I just want you to remember this and be careful." He sighed. "You know I just want the best for you, right?"

She smiled slightly, leaning in to wrap her arms around him. "I know, Papi."

"Good. Now can we not have this conversation again for another like decade at least?"

She laughed, lifting her head to look at him. "At least. I have too much living to do before I have babies."

"Also you'll be married first," he added.

"You're so old-fashioned, Dad," she replied, pulling away to go toss her garbage away.

"Only when it comes to my little girl," he murmured, watching her go. When the door closed behind her he let out a long sigh. Yeah, he'd handled that one well, he thought. Especially if he ignored the horrible panicky feeling he'd been having since she came running down the stairs.

Pretty damn good.


	35. An Impulse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little girl runs away

Being seven years old was harder than grown-ups realized.

She had to go to school, and make her bed every morning. And do her homework. And watch her language. And she had to spend time with her friends, and at the garage. And she wanted to know more about cars but there was that stupid homework to do. She always had to listen to her Mami and Papi, and do her chores and when she talked-back she always got in trouble.

Today she didn't even get to go to the garage after school. Mami had picked her up to take her to a doctor's appointment and she hated going to the doctor's. Even if she got a lollipop she hated the weird little room with the beds that had paper on them and the jars full of tongue depressors and cotton balls. She only came to the doctor when she was sick, or when she had her yearly check-up. She especially hated check-ups because they usually came with shots. Shots were awful, torturous devices clearly thought up by evil grown-ups.

So, of course, the minute she found out she was going to the doctor she knew the shots would be coming. She'd complained loudly from her car seat, insisting that she didn't need a doctor.

"Mami I want to go to the garage! Not the doctor's!"

"We'll go to the garage afterwards. But you need to go to the doctor's," Letty replied calmly.

"But I don't like the doctor!" she cried.

Letty sighed. "It's not so bad. He always gives you a lollipop."

"But he gives me a shot," the child whined pitifully.

"I know you don't like to get them, but you need it so that you don't get the flu. Remember how awful it was when you didn't get your shot and you had the flu?"

She did remember having the flu, a little bit. With a sore throat and a fever and sleeping in her bed for days and days. She didn't have to go to school but she had felt too bad to even watch movies with Mami or be excited that Papi was staying home to take care of her. The flu sucked. Still, she only frowned silently and looked mulishly out the window.

She still didn't want a shot.

She watched out the window as they drove off the main road into the neighborhood where the doctor's office was. It was near Aunt Mia's house. She knew because she remembered how to get to Aunt Mia's house. They would turn off the same big road and drive down past the red house with the big front deck and the palm trees and the little pink house with the green shutters where the old lady sold her home made tacos at lunch time. To go to Aunt Mia's house you turned at the yellow house with the big black dog behind the fence. Now they kept going straight and she slumped in her seat with a little moan of disappointment.

Aunt Mia lived down the street from the community center where they had a big indoor pool. She would take her and Vince there, especially in the summer to play, then they'd walk down the road to the ice cream cart for cones.

Going to Aunt Mia's house was sounding better and better every minute, most especially when compared to a trip to the doctor's. She looked up when the car pulled into a parking lot, staring at the beige-colored building where the doctor's office was. Her mother parked the vehicle, and then opened the back seat to help her out of her seat. She knew how to unbuckle herself, and had for a long time, but she sat stubbornly in her seat until Letty did it for her, lifting her out of the car and setting her on her feet.

She kicked at the blacktop with sneakered feet, pouting, arms crossed in front of her chest. She didn't follow her mother when she started to walk to the building, nor obediently go after her when she was called. With an exasperated sigh Letty walked back towards her and grabbed her by the hand.

"Come on now, stop being a baby," her mother said, tugging her gently towards the building. "You're seven years old now."

"I'm not a baby," she pouted, trailing behind her reluctantly.

They walked into the building and down a corridor past several doors till her Mami stopped in front of one and opened it, taking them into the waiting room for the doctor's office. There were lots of chairs and a low table crowded with magazines and coloring books and a big plastic case full of crayons. There were some toys in one corner, which a little boy with brown curly hair was already playing with as a woman sat nearby reading a magazine. A little girl was sitting in one of the chairs crying her head off, tears all over her red face. She had red hair in messy pigtails and looked like she was only about three. A harassed looking woman with equally red hair sat beside her. A tall man stood near the front desk holding a crying baby and arguing with the receptionist while two dark-skinned boys who looked like twins sat on nearby chairs coughing and sharing a box of tissues between them.

She shrunk back behind her mother, clutching onto her leg. "I wanna go home," she whimpered.

Letty surveyed the waiting room and then spotted a chair farthest away from the sick children. "Sit down while Mami checks us in," she told her.

The girl started towards the seat, but then once her mother's back was turned she hastily said she had to use the bathroom and ducked into the nearby door labeled "ladies". She found herself in a small room with just one toilet and a sink and turned to lock the door. There was a window over the sink, wide but not tall and with frosted glass. She eyed it, then grabbed ahold of the slippery white sink and scrambled up to stand on the top of it. The window had a tiny ledge which she leaned forward against with one hand, wrenching at the latch with the other. She tugged and the window folded outwards. There wasn't a lot of room, but she wasn't big. She leaned forward to slide on her stomach through the tiny opening, finding herself staring down at the grass only a few short feet below. She rethought, pulling herself back inside, then turned to stick her feet out first.

She dropped down, wincing when she landed awkwardly and twisted her ankle. She sat down on her butt in the grass and let out a long breath before scrambling to her feet. Her mother would come to check where she was soon. She walked down to the sidewalk, looking both ways to try and get her bearings. She could see the pink taco house in the distance and smiled, heading down the block that way.

It would be nice to live at Aunt Mia's house. She could still go to the garage. But she wouldn't have to do her chores and maybe Aunt Mia wouldn't make her go to school. And she definitely wouldn't have to go to the doctor and get stupid shots and be around gross other kids with snot coming out of their noses. Aunt Mia could take her to the pool and buy her ice cream. And she could make her famous lasagna for dinner and sweet empanadas for dessert.

She was fairly skipping when she made the turn down the block to her Aunt and Uncle's house several minutes later. It did not even cross her mind that her mother would be worried about her back at the doctor's office.

When she arrived she found the driveway empty and the house dark and frowned in disappointment. Maybe Aunt Mia was working at the garage today. But the garage was way too far away to walk all the way there. Instead she walked up the driveway towards the back yard. There was the swing set that Uncle Brian and Papi had put in a few years ago. She walked towards it, sitting down in one of the swings and letting out a long sigh as she let her legs dangle.

She could go back to the doctor's. But then she'd still have to get her shot, and Mami would be really mad at her for running away. Maybe she'd just wait here until her aunt came home. Her stomach growled and she wished she'd had a snack with her. She should have made a survival kit just like the man on TV that Papi sometimes watched. But he found food out in the wild too! She looked around, spotting Aunt Mia's garden near the side of the house. Leaping off the swing she landed and hurried over to it. There were tomatoes and cucumbers, strawberries and tiny watermelons. Against the fence was a raspberry bush. She picked some of those, eating them along with some strawberries. The berries stained her fingertips pink but they tasted delicious so she ate until she was stuffed and then sprawled out in the grass.

She watched the clouds up in the sky, making shapes out of them and giving them stories in her head. One looked like a bunny, another one was a face, and another was a turtle. Scooting beneath the shade of a tree the girl yawned and curled up in the soft grass, slowly drifting off to sleep.

She started awake later at the sound of a car engine. She sat up, blinking and rubbing at her eyes. It was darker now, the sun sinking in the sky and she wondered how long she'd slept there and what time it was. She crouched behind a rose bush as the door of the car opened and then slammed shut, followed by a second door.

"Look, Dom I know you're worried but she couldn't have gone far," her aunt's voice was saying. "Brian will stay out helping you guys look for as long as you need."

There was silence and the girl peered out to see that the woman was holding a phone against her ear as she unlocked the back door to the house. Vince was standing behind her, holding his batman backpack and looking somber.

"I know, it's ridiculous that you can't report it to the police for that long," Aunt Mia continued, turning the knob and pushing open the door. "But you have lots of friends out there helping look for that little girl. Is Letty okay?"

Her voice faded as she disappeared inside with her son. The little girl watched them with wide eyes, suddenly terrified. Her parents were going to call the police? Was running away against the law? Was she going to be in lots of big trouble? She tucked her knees up against her chest, hugging them with her arms as she began to cry softly.

Now she just wanted to go home.

The back door swung open and Vince ran out. "Mom, I forgot my Nintendo in the car!" he called, then darted across the yard. He paused then, turning his head as if he'd heard something.

"Is someone there?" he asked, searching the dim twilight.

Too scared to say anything the little girl tried to make herself smaller, crouching behind the roses. Her cousin was stubborn though, and he came closer, rounding the plants until he spotted her.

His eyes went wide. "That's where you are!" He laughed then and turned his head. "Mom! Mom! I found her!"

Aunt Mia appeared at the back door just as she was being hauled out from her hiding space by Vince. She gasped and ran across the yard to them, scooping her up in a tight hug.

"Oh sweetheart," she said, her voice teary. "Are you all right? What on earth were you thinking running off like that? Your parents are so worried!"

She looked at her son. "Vince, go inside and call your Uncle and let him know we found your cousin."

Aunt Mia didn't put her down, only holding her close and smoothing her hair as she carried her into the house. She clung to her, tears running down her face. She didn't want to cry. She was a big girl now and she didn't need to cry over things.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Mia," she whimpered. "Am I in trouble?"

Mia sighed, sitting her down at the kitchen table so she could look her over. She was more than a little dirty, and her ankle was hurting again. It made her wince when Aunt Mia took off her shoe. The woman got her an ice pack and had her put her leg up, then she got her some juice and sat down across from her.

"You know you shouldn't have run away. You could have gotten lost. Or something bad could have happened to you. You're only in trouble because we were all so worried. You didn't want to worry us, did you?"

The girl shook her head, looking down at her hands. "I just didn't want to go to the doctor's. I wanted to come and live here with you."

"Oh sweetheart," Mia said, stroking her cheek and smiling gently. "You know I love you very much. But your Mom and Dad love you too. You can come and visit whenever you want, but you need to make sure that they know."

She nodded quietly. "Okay…"

"Besides, what's so bad about home huh?" Mia asked, tweaking her nose. "Vince has way more rules than you do."

"He does?" she asked, looking at her aunt dubiously.

"Your Mom and Dad, and Uncle Brian and I are different types of parents. But we're not better or worse than each other. And we all love you very much. You and Vince are lucky kids. You have a family that loves you."

She considered that, reaching for her juice to take a sip. She knew that her aunt was right. She didn't really want to run away from home. She would miss Papi reading her a bed time story every night, or hot weekends where she helped them wash their cars and they had a big water fight. She'd miss sitting out on the porch with Mami and looking for stars in the hazy night sky while they ate strawberry ice pops, or watching movies sprawled in Papi's lap with a big bowl of popcorn.

Maybe she could put up with homework and chores… and even stupid doctor's appointments now and then.

She looked up at the sound of a car pulling up and put down her juice, ready to get in trouble.

But when her parents came in through the back door they scooped her up and held her close. She clung to them, knowing for sure in that moment that her aunt had been right. She was loved.


	36. A Breakup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Father/daughter bonding over boy troubles

Every once in a while Dom's sister stole his wife for a night out and Dom was forced to fend for himself. Sometimes he'd get together with Brian for a night of movies or head out to eat and hit up a bar. Sometimes they had the kids with them, though now that they were teenagers that happened a lot less often. Even though he was not thrilled with it, his 16 year old daughter had been dating for the past year and had a steady boyfriend. So on weekend nights she usually went out with him.

Tonight Brian was taking Vince to a basketball game and so Dom was on his own. He poked around the freezer and debated calling to order take-out versus firing up the grill. It was a nice night and he texted some of the guys to meet up at their favorite bar later. He was just pulling a steak out of the fridge that Letty must have left there to defrost for him when the front door slammed open with a bang.

He stuck his head out of the kitchen to see his daughter viciously slam it shut again with a screech of anger and then stalk across the living room, muttering about how she hated boys and they could all die. She didn't even notice him as she headed for the stairs, but he could clearly see she was crying.

Wonderful.

Sighing he looked at his steak and then set it aside to marinate. He washed his hands and went upstairs, knocking at the door to his daughter's room.

There was a moment of silence before her voice came from the other side. "What?"

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she muttered. "I don't know…" she was silent a moment, then he heard her moving across the room to open the door and look at him. "I hate boys."

Dom looked back at her. Of all the nights to have boy troubles, he thought. Letty could have handled this so much better than him. But she wasn't here.

"What happened?" he asked, knowing he would probably regret it.

His daughter wandered back into her room, flopped dramatically on her bed in a way that made him think there was at least a little bit of Mia in her and looked over at him.

"Jake broke up with me," she finally said, sitting up.

He crossed to sit on the bed beside her. "I always knew he was an idiot," he told her.

She laughed a little at that. "Dad!" She sighed. "It's just that… I don't understand why…"

"Because he's an idiot, clearly," Dom said evenly, putting his arm around her. "Why else would any guy break up with a great girl like you?"

She flushed slightly, but leaned into the comfort of his arms. "I dunno. Cause I'm not girly enough. Or pretty enough. Because my boobs aren't big enough. Cause I know more about cars then him and I make him feel dumb whenever I talk about them. And I show off too much and I don't act like I need to be taken care of."

"He said all that huh?" Dom asked, narrowing his eyes. What an asshole, creep. He was tempted to break the kid's face.

"Not in so many words," she muttered. "But that's what his friends told me."

"Well he's an idiot. And a tool. And I'm glad he's not going to be around you anymore. You deserve better than that."

She sniffled a little, then smiled up at him. Other girls might have argued, said that of _course_ their fathers would say or think that. But she had been raised to be true to herself, to know that being different wasn't a bad thing and that she should be proud of who she is. She was confident; she was beautiful and strong and smart, and no stupid boy was going to take that away from her or knock her down.

"You're right," she said. "I do. He knew who I was before he decided to date me and if he's not man enough to handle it then screw him." She laughed. "I don't need his stupid ass." She shook her head. "Why did I even cry over that idiot?"

Dom smiled, stroking her dark hair. "Even the strongest ladies sometimes cry over stupid men."

She studied him. "Did Mami ever cry over you?"

He sighed. "Probably more than once," he admitted before hugging his daughter close. "Come on. Let's go out and do something. How'd you like to take a ride with your old man?"

She smiled. "I'd love that, Papi."

Dom put the steak back in the fridge and they went out to his car, rolled down the windows and sped down the beach road out of town. They swapped engine specs and talked shop over fried shrimp and fish tacos that they ate out in the open air on the beach and he told her about the first time he'd taken her mother here, and how they'd gotten married on a beach in Mexico.

On the way home they stopped for frozen yogurt and when they walked back into the house hours later she was smiling and laughing again. She hugged at his arm.

"Thanks, Dad, really. You're the best."

He kissed her on the top of her head. "Don't you forget it," he told her with a wink.


	37. A Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sweet, quiet moment before their daughter is born.

He liked the moments like these.

The quiet sort of down-time moments when they were alone.

These sorts of moments were few and far between. There was always the garage to think about, working, pay the bills, take whatever free time they could get to fit in some fun. Their friends, their family, their friends who had become their family. Life was crowded with so many noises and responsibilities and people that sometimes it was easy to let it all pass you by.

Dom would sometimes look back at the past and wonder where all the time had gone. Thinking back on the days when racing and cars had been his life and nothing had seemed to matter. And how he'd once told Brian that he needed to live a quarter-mile at a time just so he could stay sane. After that, years on the run had changed his life into a series of events. Mexico and South America, The Dominican Republic, Rio, London… all those things had shaped his life in ways he couldn't regret.

He'd forged friendships that would never die. He'd strengthened his ties with the woman he loved, had rediscovered her and rediscovered them.

And now here he was, home again. Baking under the LA sun on the beach with his wife. Two years ago he wouldn't have imagined being here at all. But here they were.

It was a very warm day in early April, and the sun was shining. They were taking a well-deserved break away from the garage. On a weekday the beach wasn't terribly crowded, and while school was in, still blissfully free of teenagers at this time of day. There was a nice breeze coming off the water which kept it at a comfortable temperature.

"Can you get my back?" Letty asked from where she sat beside him, passing over the sunscreen.

She was wearing a dark blue and gold two-piece and she looked beautiful to him even and especially now that her belly was round with their unborn child. Her smooth skin glowed caramel in the sunlight and he smiled as he squirted the sunscreen into his hand.

"Turn around, baby."

She scooted on the towel so her back was to him, winding her dark hair into a twist and pulling it up off her neck. Dom smoothed the lotion over her shoulders and down her back, callused fingers brushing along the dip of her spine and smoothing along the waist of her swimsuit bottoms. She shivered slightly when his palms cupped her waist, then wrapped around her rounded belly. Her hands fell over his as she leaned back into him with a smile.

"Thanks," she murmured, turning her head to press a kiss against his bare shoulder. "This was a good idea." Her gaze slid out to the blue ocean with the sunlight reflecting off it. "We don't seem to relax enough these days."

"You should relax more," he murmured, stroking a hand over her belly.

There was a little kick there, a press just under the spread of his hand that made him grin like an idiot. No matter how many times he felt that little baby move under his hand, beneath Letty's soft skin, he just couldn't get over it. There was a little person there inside her, a person they'd made together.

She chuckled, leaning her head back against his shoulder. "I'm not an invalid, Dom. Women have been having babies for thousands of years."

"Those women weren't you," he replied, turning to press his nose against her hair. She smelled like papaya shampoo, sand and salt. He kissed at her ear.

She laughed and ducked her head slightly. "Stop teasing your pregnant, horny wife in the middle of a public beach," she scolded.

"Horny huh?" he asked. "We should have stayed home."

She smirked, slapping at his arm. "Later," she promised, shifting against him to get more comfortable. "I can't believe you still even want to have sex now that I'm getting all huge."

"Don't be ridiculous," he replied, tucking his arm around her back and kneeling in front of her so that they were face to face. "You are carrying our baby. You're beautiful and sexy as hell," he grinned at the face she pulled. "Plus your boobs also got really big."

He laughed when she slapped him again and shoved him so that he sprawled back in the sand on his butt. She laughed too, grinning at him.

"You're terrible Dominic Toretto."

"But you love me anyway," he replied with a smile, leaning in to kiss her slowly.

"Mmm..." she murmured against his lips, then drew back. "I guess I do. I suppose we're stuck with each other."

He glanced down at her belly and grinned. "I'd say definitely."

She shook her head with a smile. "We were a family long before this little one."

Dom knew she was right. They'd redefined the meaning of family throughout the years, welcomed more people in it, bid goodbye to others. But this was different, this was special. Him and her and their baby. He knew his own Dad would have been proud, knew he had the best example for how to be a father. Letty seemed less comfortable with her own role at times, and he supposed some of that stemmed from her issues with her mother. But he knew she already loved their baby. He had a feeling she'd do much better than she realized.

"Come on baby, let's go for a swim," he said, standing and helping her to her feet.

She groaned slightly, pressing a hand to her back. "I miss my old center of gravity," she complained, lacing her fingers with his and walking down towards the water. "And do you know how annoying it is to drive with this thing in the way?" She patted at her belly.

He laughed. "Two more months."

He scooped her up into his arms to wade into the ocean and she smiled, putting her arms around his shoulders. The waves were gentle today, breaking against his legs as he walked out further, the sand and rocks squishing beneath his feet.

"Yeah then we just have to deal with whatever monster child we created together," she replied with a grin.

"Affectionate nicknames already. I bet the baby will be just like you," he said, setting her on her feet in the water.

"Then we're definitely screwed," she said, turning to lean back against him in the cool water, watching the boats in the distance.

He wrapped his arms around her, palm spread against her abdomen as he felt that little life moving inside of her.

"The best kind of screwed," he muttered, nuzzling at her hair. "The best kind."


	38. A Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby's first steps

It was a warm Sunday afternoon in August, about a month after his daughter's first birthday. Dom and his family were visiting with his sister, as they did every Sunday. A cook out in her backyard with lots of food, a cooler full of cold beers, and all their family around. This weekend Roman was present, as was Tej, and Hector, recently married, had brought his wife Marina.

He took a long sip of his Corona and surveyed the yard. Brian was sitting in the grass with his four-year-old son, Vince, assembling some sort of nerf gun with only partial success. Roman was standing next to him offering advice and mostly just ragging on him. Hector was sitting with Tej and Marina around the table with some beers and they were bullshitting and bragging.

Mia came out the back door with a platter of marinated meat to be put on the grill, followed by Letty who was carrying their daughter. The toddler had clearly just woken up from her nap, rubbing little fists against her eyes as she yawned. Her dark curls were in a riot around her face. She whined and pressed her face against Letty's shoulder and his wife soothed her gently, rubbing her back as she laughed at something Mia was saying. After a minute or two of sleepy snuggling the child lurched backwards in Letty's arms, squirming and kicking out her bare legs until Letty set her down in the grass.

The baby grinned widely and sped off on all-fours. She crawled like a little speed demon, and hadn't yet attempted to go anywhere on only her legs. She would pull herself to stand and explore often, but she could get places fast if she crawled, so she seemed to be sticking to that.

She paused at the table, pulling herself up by grabbing at the edge of the bench where Hector was sitting. He laughed and scooped her up to kiss her little nose. She giggled and pressed her hands against his face until he pretended to eat them and she snatched them back with a squeal.

"Did you have a good nap, Princess?" Hector asked.

"Nap," she parroted, then squirmed out of his arms to the bench before lowering herself back down to the grass. She stood on her feet unsteadily, took one step back and plopped onto her diapered butt. She looked up at Hector. "No," she told him, then crawled off again, leaving the adults chuckling after her.

"She doesn't like to be called Princess," Tej said. "I mean come on, Letty's her mom."

"Very funny, Tej, I heard that," Letty said from the grill, not even turning around.

"Oh you mean… when you were a little girl you ran around in pink dresses with tiaras on?" he asked her.

"Keep talking," she threatened. "I'm holding sharp implements."

Tej laughed but wisely closed his mouth, taking a drink of his beer.

"Veeeeeeeee!" Dom turned his head to see his little daughter latching onto her cousin.

The little boy groaned and laughed, standing and grabbing her under the arms to haul her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. She giggled and clutched at his shirt, wobbling on her feet. Brian was smiling at them as he loaded nerf missiles onto the finally assembled gun. The little girl eyed the weapon with interest and reached out to grab for it.

"Want," she informed her uncle, making grabby-hands at the toy.

Brian held it out of her reach. "Nuh uh," he said. "You're too little for this."

"That's _mine_ ," Vince informed her, moving to take the toy from his father then running off. "Uncle Roman I'm coming to get you!" he shouted.

"Finally," Roman replied, brandishing his own foamy weapon. "I'm taking you down kid."

Vince shot two quick little missiles at Rome's chest and then ran off, laughing, the big man chasing after him with a complaint. Brian chuckled, then turned to look at his niece who was still standing there, staring open-mouthed after her cousin.

"V?" she asked her uncle, pointing.

"He'll be back honey," Brian assured, ruffling her hair. "Why don't I go get your cars and we can play?"

"Pway," she replied with a smile, then turned her head.

She saw her father sitting in his chair where he was watching her and squealed, bouncing unsteadily on her feet.

"Papiiiii," she called, waving at him.

He smiled. "Hey baby girl."

She took a couple of steps towards him and Dom's eyes widened as he tuned his attention on her. She wobbled slightly and stood still, getting a stubborn sort of look in her eyes.

"Come to Papi," he said, encouraging her gently.

The others in the yard had gone silent, everyone else watching as the toddler took her first real steps. She navigated past the table, tiny toes curling into the grass. Her tongue was stuck out of the side of her mouth in a rather comic manner. When she was only a few steps away she sped up, stumbling into his waiting arms with a giggle of delight.

Dom laughed and hugged her close, then tossed her up in the air.

"Look at my big girl!" he said. "Walking all by yourself!"

She seemed delighted with herself and hugged at him. "Up Papi! Up!" she demanded until he tossed her again, then giggled happily.

"Did you see that?" he asked, turning to look at Letty, who was smiling at them.

"Of course I did. Mia got it on video." She indicated his sister who was showing something to Brian on her phone.

Letty crouched down beside him to smile at her daughter. "You're getting big huh? Gonna be driving before we know it."

"Car, car!" the girl declared, sitting in Dom's lap and making a little steering motion with her hands.

Letty laughed. Mia grinned at them.

"You know you're never going to be able to catch her now," she told them.

"Please," Dom said. "Remember who you're talking to."

She laughed. "I do. She's _your_ daughter. And Letty's. I tell you, she'll be off like a shot before you know it."

Dom wrapped his arms around his little daughter and hugged her close. "Probably. But I bet she'll always be running towards us."


	39. Girl's Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girls cause trouble.

Aunt Mia had been the one to suggest a "girls' night out" and she had been intrigued enough to agree. Her mother had agreed also, which had rather surprised her, until Letty rolled her eyes and gave her a look.

"Seriously? I've been friends with Aunt Mia since we were kids. Of course we go out together."

"Your mother isn't so much of a tomboy that she doesn't know how to have fun," Mia put in, laughing at the expression on her niece's face.

"What are we going to do?" she asked them.

"We're going to a bar, of course," Aunt Mia replied.

"Aunt Mia I'm only 17."

"And you have a fake ID. Come on, I know you do."

She gaped at her aunt, then frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "How did you know?"

"Please like you were the first person to get a fake ID," her mother replied.

She stared at them both. "You guys were bad when you were my age," she laughed.

"Don't tell me you thought you got your misbehavior from your father," Letty said, arching a brow.

"I figured it was from both of you," she replied, honestly. "Does Dad know we're going to a bar…?"

"Please like he's going to say no," Mia said. "Besides, we're just going to lie like we always do."

"Aunt Mia!" she laughed again, stunned. She always thought her aunt was so innocent. Apparently she'd thought wrong.

"We'll meet at the bar tonight around 10," Mia said, standing up and heading back towards the office.

Letty exchanged a glance with her daughter, who grinned back.

"What are we gonna tell Dad?"

"Movie," Letty replied easily, leaning under the hood of the car they were working on. "We just say Aunt Mia's dragging us to some girly flick so he doesn't want to come along."

"He buys that? You hate girly movies."

"But I love Aunt Mia and every once in a while I do something I don't like because she does."

"Really?" the teenager looked at her mother. "Not just for pretend?"

Letty shoved at her lightly. "I see what you think of me."

"Are you two working over there or just yapping?" Dom asked from across the garage.

Letty rolled her eyes at him but her daughter turned to fix him with a smile. "Both, Papi."

"Well work faster," he said. "I want to close on _time_ tonight."

"Why?" she asked cheekily, leaning down for drive tool. "Got a hot date?"

Letty was laughing under the hood of the car as Dom looked over at them with a bland expression. "That would be impossible since my dear sister informed me that you were all going to some girly movie tonight."

"So are you saying the only lady you have hot dates with is Mami?" she asked.

"He better be," Letty muttered.

"Stop being a smartass and get back to work," he told her.

She grinned to herself as she turned her attention back to the vehicle. Sometimes it was so easy to mess with her dad. But she knew she was going out with her mom and aunt tonight so she got back to work. She wanted time to shower off the grease and change her clothes before they went out. She couldn't help but wonder what a night out with them would be like. Usually when they did stuff together it was lunch or the dreaded shopping. Otherwise they'd get the families all together for their weekly cookout or birthdays and holidays.

She had to admit she was curious as hell to see what her mother and aunt were like when they were out just having fun. Did Aunt Mia even know how to let loose? She found it hard to picture. She supposed she would just have to find out.

After work she was the first one upstairs to grab a shower. She sprayed leave-in conditioner in her hair and let it air dry into waves and curls as she dug around in her closet for something suitable to wear. What were you supposed to wear to the bar with your mother? That sounded weird.

She tugged on a pair of tight grey jeans, her red converse with the studs and a sleeveless red top she'd "borrowed" from Liana with the intent never to return it. She went downstairs to find her mother sitting on the couch, apparently already ready to go. Letty was wearing black skinny jeans and heeled boots along with a layered blue tank top that showed off her toned arms. People would look at her and definitely not believe she had a teenaged daughter. She had to smother a grin at that. Her mom probably wouldn't even notice.

"Looking hot, Mami. No wonder Dad fell for you."

Letty laughed, raising a brow at her. "I was a hell of a lot younger when he did."

"Nuh uh," the girl insisted. "He's totally still head over heels in love with you. It's disgusting."

"Thanks," Letty said. "You're lucky he can't hear you."

"Did he go out?"

"Apparently he and Uncle Brian and Vince went to some sport game or something, I don't know."

"Mami you're a horrible tom-boy," she laughed.

"I'm into cars not sports," Letty replied.

"Fair enough. Let's go pick up Aunt Mia. You know she'll take forever to get ready."

"Always has." Letty stood, grabbing her keys and wallet and they headed out to her car.

A short drive had them arriving at Aunt Mia's house and Letty pulled into the driveway to park.

"We're going to have to force her to make a final outfit decision," she explained.

"Seriously?" her daughter asked. "For a bar?"

"Don't ask me," Letty replied, heading around back and in through the kitchen.

They took the stairs up to the master bedroom, which was neat as a pin with a carefully made bed… except that it had clothes strewn all over it. Mia was in her underwear. They stared at her. The teenager spared a moment to think that she was seriously glad to inherited the genetics from the ladies in her family because she wanted to look that hot when she was well… old. Older? She would keep it to herself.

"I need help," Mia said, throwing up her hands.

"Clearly," Letty deadpanned and surveyed the bed. "It's not nice enough of a bar for a dress, so those are out. Find the jeans you own that make your ass look the best."

Mia nodded and dug around in her dresser until she produced a pair of dark blue jeans and wiggled into them.

"I would pair them with…" Letty rifled through a pile of tops, then lifted a brilliant yellow ruched one that was one of Mia's best colors. "This. And your yellow and black heels. You know, the ones you said… looked 'vintage'?"

"Oh right!" Mia disappeared into her closet and returned with the shoes, which had a peep toe and big yellow and black sort of graphic flowers on them. She tugged on the top, slipped on the shoes, then ran a flat-iron through her hair.

"I didn't know you had opinions on clothes," the teenager muttered to her mother.

"Well I sort of do but only because I wouldn't let her go out looking ridiculous."

"You might have when we were teenagers," Mia put in. "But that's because the styles were ridiculous."

"I've seen pictures," her niece added with a nod, then laughed when her mother punched her in the arm. "I mean… you guys always looked awesome."

"At least we always had rockin' bodies," Mia snickered.

"Not _always_ ," Letty said. "Try after puberty."

"Perfect timing," Mia replied airily. "Because that's when we started to care about boys."

Letty looked over to see her daughter making a face. "Hey now how are we supposed to have a girl's night out if you get disgusted every time we talk about stuff like that?"

"Get me some drinks first," the girl answered.

Mia laughed. "Letty she is so much like you." She touched up her lip gloss. "Okay I'm ready. Let's go."

They went back out to Letty's car and piled in before driving over to the bar. Apparently this same place had been around since they were her age, and they used to come here back then. Sometimes with the boys, other times alone when they could ditch them.

"We only had to ditch them because Dom was so overprotective of Mia that it would be hard to just have fun sometimes," her mother explained.

"And so was Vince," Mia said. "But only because he was possessive even though I wasn't his."

"Men are delusional," Letty told her, pulling up outside the bar.

It was downtown, but near the edges of the city center away from the areas where the big office buildings were. It seemed this place had a very particular sort of crowd, judging by the tricked out cars lining the roads in front of it and parked carefully in the narrow lot.

"I see why you go here," she said, climbing out of the vehicle.

"We know the owner," Aunt Mia said with a cheeky grin.

"What?" she gaped. "I didn't even need my fake ID in that case!"

"Hey at least let him pretend to be a legitimate businessman," her mother told her, opening the door and ushering them into the dark interior of the bar.

The place looked like it had been there for decades, and it was a high possibility. The floors were scarred up wood and the walls were the same, though polished to a dark shine. Pictures and posters covered the walls: cars, race tracks, more cars. She smothered a laugh when she caught sight of the man behind the bar.

"Uncle Roman?" she asked.

"We took him to this place when he first came out to LA, and he said one day he was going to buy it and run his own business. So he does. When he's traveling he has a manager take care of things."

Mia explained this as she crossed the room towards the bar. People were crowded around it. On the other end of the room there was a live band, some local group she recognized in a vague manner. Some people were sitting on low couches with drinks, others were dancing. Beyond the bar there were a pair of pool tables where people were enjoying themselves with a game. It was somehow a relaxed atmosphere that also happened to be pretty cool, and she liked that. It wasn't like having to get up to dress code to go into one of LA's overpriced clubs or like a total dive bar where you only found bikers and drunks.

She hitched herself up onto a bar stool as Roman came over to them with a grin. "Ladies. Looking beautiful as always. What is this some sort of initiation? Hazing of the younger generation?"

She laughed. "A hazing? What exactly do you know about my mother that I don't Uncle Rome?"

"Lots, girly. But I bet it goes both ways." He smirked when Letty gave him a look. "What are you ladies drinking?"

"I'll have a rum and coke, and you might as well give Letty a beer. She's uncivilized." Mia said.

"Hey may I remind you someone has to drive home tonight?" Letty protested.

"Wasn't that why we brought your daughter?" Mia asked with a grin.

"Hell no," the teenager complained. "You did not bring me to a bar to tell me I can't drink."

Roman passed a corona to Letty and mixed a rather strong rum and coke for Mia, before eying the girl. He looked at the two women. "You're sure she can drink?"

"It's fine," Letty said. "What trouble is she going to get in with us right here? Not like she doesn't drink when we're not around."

Roman raised a brow, then looked at the teen. "What's your poison?"

"Tequila," she said, straight faced.

They all stared at her. Letty raised a brow. "Excuse me you did not just ask for a shot of tequila."

"I did. With a lime and some salt please, Uncle Roman." She smiled sweetly.

"We're going to be carrying her home," Mia told her sister-in-law as Rome pulled out the shot glass and bottle.

"You'd better not puke in my car," Letty told her daughter.

"Uh uh." She shook her head. "Uncle Rome… three more glasses. You're drinking with me. And don't say no. It's sad if a little girl can drink you under the table."

"Hell no you did not just say that," he muttered, pulling out three more glasses as Letty and Mia hunkered down on their bar stools, each reaching for a lime wedge.

"You are on, little girl," Letty said with a smirk.

0000

It was 2 am and Dom was heading home from Brian's place where he'd been hanging out with his brother-in-law after the game. They'd both expected the girls to be home by then, but the mystery was answered when Dom's cell rang.

He flipped it open, seeing Roman's name flash on the screen. He frowned but picked it up.

"Yeah?"

"Yo man… you gotta do me a favor, Dom," Rome sounded like he was a little bit out of it.

"Are you drunk? What have you been sampling too much from behind the bar? Are you seriously drunk dialing me at 2 am? Why didn't you call Brian?"

"I am gonna call Brian next. But I really need you to come down here and get… your women."

"What?"

"Your women are evil as fuck man. They drank… so much fucking tequila and I don't even know what happened but I'm almost sure it was Mia that was dancing on the tables. And Letty started a fight. I got it under control man and they're passed out. But… I really need you to get down here now and come get them."

Dom stared at the phone because Roman hung up after that. He dragged a hand over his face. He hadn't gotten a call like that in years. And didn't they have his daughter with them when they'd gone out tonight.

Oh there was going to be trouble. Dom turned around and sped off in the direction of Roman's bar.


	40. A Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia watches her niece while Dom and Letty go on vacation

She was only two the first time her parents went away on vacation. Aunt Mia had practically bullied them into it, Mami had said. But the truth of the matter was that they could probably use the break.

At first it was exciting. She hugged and kissed Mami and Papi goodbye then raced inside to play with her cousin Vince and his toy cars. For dinner Aunt Mia made mac n' cheese with spicy chicken and she got chocolate ice cream for dessert.

She got to sleep in V's room in his old crib and Uncle Brian told them a bedtime story about dinosaurs. He pretended to be the different dinosaurs, roaring and stomping around the room until she and Vince were breathless from giggling.

That night she fell asleep quickly, worn out by the excitement.

By the next day she was starting to miss her parents. She was grumpy in the morning and only picked at her breakfast, even though Aunt Mia had made scrambled eggs with tortillas. Most of hers ended up on the floor.

Aunt Mia was careful when she brushed her hair, but she still cried and asked for Mami.

"We'll call her later," Aunt Mia promised, soothing her with a hug.

They dropped Vince off at pre-school on the way to the garage. Uncle Tej came in to help Uncle Brian while Mami and Papi were gone. She spent the morning on the floor of the office, playing with her hot wheels and action figures while Aunt Mia worked on the computer.

When she got bored she wandered into the garage to tug at Uncle Brian's pant leg.

"Up!" she demanded.

He wiped his hands on a rag and lifted her. "What's up, monster?"

"I hewp?" she asked, pointing to the car engine.

He chuckled softly. "Sure. Why don't you hand me my tools?"

He carried her to his small, personal toolbox and loaded it with a few extra items that he would need. He brought it back over to the car he was working on and set it down on the floor, place his niece beside it.

"Okay," he told her, surveying the work in front of him. "Pass me a Socket Wrench, that's the one that-"

He was cut off as the two-year-old pushed the correct tool into his hand. He laughed.

"You are definitely Dom and Letty's kid."

Brian ruffled her hair and bent over the hood to get to work.

His niece closed the toolbox and stood on top of it, leaning against the car to watch him. Like he'd seen Dom do, he explained each repair he made. Whenever he needed a tool she'd step down and root through the box to find it for him. Half the time she didn't even need the description he offered. When she learned a new tool she would hold it up and repeat the name to him excitedly, like she was making an amazing new discovery.

Around noon Mia drove down to a nearby sandwich shop and brought them back lunch, grabbing Vince from his morning pre-school on the way back.

The kids sat together out front under Mia's watch, eating fruit salad and splitting a sandwich.

It wasn't long after lunch that the toddler started to get sleepy, rubbing at her eyes and yawning.

"Ready for your nap?" Mia asked.

The girl shook her head. "I want Mami and Papi," she complained.

Mia checked her watch. "Let's try giving them a call. They can wish you sweet dreams."

"Okay," the child agreed, brightening.

Mia pulled out her phone and texted her sister-in-law first. _Are you guys decent? Or can I face-time you? Someone wants to talk to you._

It only took a minute for Letty to reply. _So that's what you think we are spending our vacation doing? It's not a stretch. We are having lunch. We had to put our clothes on or the restaurant probably wouldn't have let us in._

Mia laughed and pulled her niece into her lap. "Okay we're going to see Mami and Papi on the phone," she told her, then connected to Letty's cell.

When Letty and Dom came into view it was clear they were dining outside. She could glimpse the shore behind them and they were both lightly dressed to combat the warm Mexican sun. Dom had his arm around Letty and not only because they had to sit close together to they could both see the phone.

The little girl in her arms gasped in delight and reached for the phone. "Mami! Papi!" she announced. "See you!"

Letty chuckled and Dom grinned. "Well move your hand out of the way," Letty said. "We can't see you."

Mia smiled and grabbed ahold of her hand gently, drawing it back. "Better?"

"Are you being good for Aunt Mia?" Dom asked.

The toddler nodded her head. "Papi come home?"

"We'll be home soon," Letty assured her. "A few more days. Then you can tell us about all the fun you had at Aunt Mia's house."

"She helped Uncle Brian in the garage today," Mia said with a smile, stroking the child's soft curls.

The toddler yawned and snuggled back against her, eyelids heavy.

"Oh did you?" Dom asked. "Did you show Uncle Brian how to fix an engine?"

The little girl nodded. "Papi bettew," she told them.

Dom and Letty laughed. "I don't think Uncle Brian taught you that," her mother said. "Sueño mija. It's nap time hmm?"

"Sueño," she mumbled, head pillowed against Mia's chest as her eyes closed.

Mia smiled down at her, then looked to her brother and sister-in-law. "You guys enjoy the rest of your vacation. I'm sure we'll be calling again tomorrow. Everything is going just fine here."

"Thanks Mia," Dom replied. "We'll talk to you soon. We love you both."

"Love Papi," the little girl mumbled, drifting off to sleep.

"I love you guys too," Mia said. "Bye."

She hung up the phone, slipping it into her back pocket before carrying her niece through the garage and into the office. Vince was already curled up on the couch against the wall, passed out. He had a little yellow car resting on his chest.

She smiled fondly, smoothing his hair briefly before laying the toddler in her arms in the playpen they kept in the office. She was getting too big for it, but she didn't want to put her with Vince and chance her rolling off the couch onto the floor. That little girl never was still, not even in her sleep.

Mia settled down behind the desk, smiling to herself as she considered both children sleeping peaceful amongst the sounds and smells of a garage. She thought back to the conversation with Dom and Letty over the phone, how happy and peaceful they'd looked. She was glad she'd strong-armed them into taking some time away. They deserved a little time with just the two of them, no matter how much they loved their daughter.

Plus… she figured, glancing over at the sleeping girl, she could always ask for a return favor when she wanted to get away with Brian.

Yeah, she'd definitely be doing that.


	41. A Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation to Girl's Night Out

"What the hell were you thinking?" Dom asked Roman when he met him at the back door of the bar, looking more than a little worse for wear.

"Dude you don't understand," Roman said, stepping back to let him in. "That little girly of yours issued a challenge. How could I call myself a man if I chickened out?"

"How about you could have taken a second to think about how hard I'm going to kick your ass for giving my daughter that much alcohol?"

"Hey Dom c'mon! Letty and Mia were here it was totally fine… until they got crazy."

Dom just stared at him mildly. "Brian's on his way too?"

"Yeah," Roman muttered, leading him down the back hallway into the area where the bar opened up.

Mia was stretched out on one of the couches on her stomach, arm dangling over the edge so that her hand rested on the floor. Someone had put a trash can next to her. Dom spotted his daughter sprawled in an overstuffed chair across from her, curled up on her side, lips parted, eyes closed. She almost, almost would have looked like she was peacefully sleeping were it not for the split lip and bruised knuckles she was sporting.

Letty was awake, sitting in one of the chairs she'd dragged over from a table, feet propped up on the low coffee table. She had a bag of ice pressed against her hand and a cut across the curve of her cheekbone where the skin was purpled and bruised.

Dom sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. She looked up to meet his gaze and he could see she was still definitely drunk. She smiled wolfishly, then narrowed her eyes in Roman's direction.

"I told you not to call Dom."

"What are you gonna do?" Roman asked. "Sleep here?"

"It's called a _taxi_ , Rome," she said, lurching to her feet.

Dom stepped in front of her, reaching out a hand to steady her. "Letty… What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She smiled, leaned into his body. "Never could stay outta trouble," she fairly purred, sliding her hands up his back.

He shivered, because she was pressing the ice pack into his spine. He reached back to grab her hand and she winced.

"What did you do?" he demanded, though there was no harshness in his voice.

"It's your daughter's fault," she said, tilting her head slightly to look up at him. "She wanted to do shots. And you know your sister can't hold her booze." She laughed. "She was dancing on the tables in no time."

Roman nodded, sitting down on the couch near Mia's feet and rubbing a hand over his face. "Of course, some guys started to make some trouble."

"They were trying to put dollar bills down her _pants_ ," Letty griped, stalking away from them. "That shit isn't cool."

"Yeah and you showed them with your fists," Rome said. "Instead of just letting me kick they asses out." He looked at Dom. "And then all hell broke out and there was just a brawl. Your girl got involved too. I couldn't call the cops cause I had a kid up in here, man."

Dom sighed. "Right, Roman, I get it."

Letty looked unrepentant. "I'm not going to apologize for punching those creeps."

"Uh huh," Dom said. "And what about taking our daughter out drinking?"

She shrugged, eying him. "We came here when we were her age. Seems like we figured it all out Dom. Besides, I was right here. No way that little girl can drink me under the table."

He laughed briefly. "Letty… I'm not even sure I can drink you under the table."

She smiled at him, her gaze sliding over him slowly. She put her uninjured hand on her hip. "C'mon you're not really mad," she said. "Better she goes out to bars with me and Mia than by herself, or with her friends."

He was silent, though he had to admit she had a point. "It would have probably worked out better if you and Mia hadn't gotten trashed."

"I wasn't _planning_ to," Letty complained. "Hell you'd think Rome here would have watered the damn tequila or somethin' helpful." She glanced at the other man accusingly.

"Hey," Roman lifted his hands. "I told you little girl issued a straight up challenge."

"And no one in this room can resist a challenge," Dom put in.

"Mia probably should have," Letty said, glancing at her friend. "Though… not the most embarrassing thing she's done while drunk."

"Do tell," Roman said.

"How about not," Dom replied, frowning at the other man.

"She made out with a chick," Letty answered.

Rome's eyes went wide. "Wait. Details. Was it you?"

"Hell no," Letty scowled at him. "I wasn't drunk."

"But when you have been drunk…" Roman continued, leaning forward. "Have you ever made out with another chick?"

She stared at him evenly. "Have you ever made out with another guy?"

"What? Woman, what kind of question is that?"

She opened her mouth but then there was a loud knock at the back door which spared them all from further continuation on the subject. Roman got up to go answer, returning shortly with Brian trailing behind him. He and Dom exchanged a look, then Brian moved to go scoop up his wife gently.

"Careful she doesn't puke in your car," Letty offered helpfully.

"Yeah… thanks for that. See you guys Sunday." Brian shook his head at Roman as he carried Mia back out the way he'd come.

"Come on," Dom said. "We're going home."

Letty looked at Roman. "Can I have my keys?"

"Hell no," he said.

"I'm not going to drive. I just want to have them so I can come pick up my car tomorrow."

Rome looked at her a long moment, then went to get them from behind the bar, dropping them into her hand. She smiled.

"Thanks man."

Dom picked up his daughter, slipping one arm under the bend of her knees and the other behind her shoulders as he lifted her. Letty followed them out of the bar back to Dom's car and opened the back door so that he could lay the teen across the seats. He spared a brief moment of prayer that she wouldn't puke on the interior of the vehicle, then went around to the driver's side. Letty climbed into the passenger side and buckled up.

He looked over at her as he started up the car. "So… do you think she's gotten it out of her system?"

"Trust me, when she wakes up with the pounding headache tomorrow after being up the rest of the night puking she will not be wanting to do it again anytime soon." Letty laughed. "Remember the first time I drank myself into a wicked hangover?"

"Yeah…" he mumbled. "You were miserable to be around the whole day after that."

"Well I guess we'd better let her hide out in her room tomorrow just like she's gonna want to do."

Dom pulled the car out onto the road slowly, glancing at his sleeping daughter in the rearview mirror. "This is probably the most unconventional way to teach someone a lesson, ever."

"We all need to learn life lessons, Dom. Might as well have fun doing it. And if you can learn it without getting hurt, all the better."

He reached over to squeeze her thigh gently, smiling. "At least we can give her that."


	42. An Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharing important news!

They decided to wait until the doctor confirmed the home test to tell the others. Even though they'd agreed on this, it was still admittedly hard to keep the news to themselves. So when they got the results back from the lab Dom called Mia up and invited them over for dinner that very night.

"We're going to see you guys tomorrow, aren't we?" Mia asked over the phone. "Like always right?"

"Yeah of course, but that will be with everyone."

"Okay…" Mia trailed off, curiosity in her voice. "We'll be by around 4."

In true Mia style they arrived around 3:45, but Dom was already in the yard, firing up the grill. He turned when Brian's car pulled up, then went to greet them, scooping up Vince for a hug when the little boy ran to him.

"Somebody's getting big!" he said with a laugh.

Vince grinned and made a muscle. "I'm a big boy."

Dom set him down as Letty came out the back door.

"You guys are always early," she laughed, then leaned down to hug and kiss her nephew when he ran to her.

Vince tugged at her hand. "Can we play PlayStation, Aunt Letty?"

"Sure why don't you go pick a game? Remember, bottom shelf only," she reminded him. That was where all the games were that Mia deemed acceptable for her child.

The boy nodded and ran into the house as Mia mounted the steps to hug Letty in greeting.

"This was an unexpected invitation," she said with a laugh. "Not like we don't see you guys every day."

"I know it's almost irritating to see your face right now," Letty agreed with a smirk, then held the door open for her, following her inside.

"You wake up to Dom's face every morning there's no way mine could irritate you," Mia replied, laughing.

She was carrying a large bowl of what appeared to be macaroni salad.

"You didn't have to bring anything," Letty told her as she took it to tuck away in the fridge.

"Yeah yeah, I know you're obligated to say that but you still eat the biggest helping of my pasta salad."

Letty laughed. "Thanks."

"So what's up?" Mia asked. "Why did you guys invite us over?"

"What we can't just want to spend time with our family?"

"Well… I guess not," Mia admitted. "But we have the barbeque every Sunday and we work together. It's not like you miss us."

"Work is work. We're usually too busy with cars and you with clients to spend quality time together. And yeah, there's the barbeque. We thought about that but… you and Brian and Vince are family. So are the others but it's different."

"Okay I get what you mean," Mia said. "But I still feel like there's a reason."

"Sure is. We'll tell you guys later," Letty agreed. She laughed when Mia pouted, but was saved by Vince calling her from the other room. "Gotta go help V beat the next level of Lego Batman."

She disappeared through the doorway with Mia smiling after her. The younger Toretto got two beers and a water out of the fridge and went outside to join Brian and Dom.

She found them arguing over some sort of engine mod and shook her head with a laugh. Some things would never change. She passed them each a beer and Brian smiled, putting his arm around her and pulling her close.

"Letty got roped into babysitting duty?" he asked.

"They're playing Lego Batman," Mia replied. "You know Vince. His attention span is about twenty minutes tops."

"Glad to let someone else try to keep up with him for a little bit," Brian said. "You guys don't want to like, keep him overnight maybe?" he asked Dom with a little grin.

"The whole point of being an Uncle is that I get to spoil the kid and then you can go home and teach him to behave," Dom said with a laugh.

"Sounds like quite the gig," Brian told him with a laugh, taking a drink from his beer.

Dom only smiled back wordlessly.

True to Mia's prediction it was about twenty minutes before the back door slammed open and Vince came running out with Letty following at a more sedate pace. The little boy launched himself into his father's arms and Brian lifted him up with a hug.

"Hey buddy did you have fun?"

He nodded. "Batman!" he told them.

"Did he make you play Robin?" Brian asked Letty, smirking over at her as she sat down across from them at the table.

She laughed. "Hey man, someone has to be the sidekick."

"Aunt Letty's bettew than Daddy," Vince told them and they all laughed… well except for Brian, who held his hand to his chest, looking wounded.

"Ouch, Vince."

Dom sat down next to Letty, putting his arm around her. She smiled and leaned into him.

"So," he told the others. "We did have a specific reason to ask you guys here tonight."

"I knew it," Mia said. "Don't tell me you got another job from Hobbs."

"What?" Letty laughed. "No."

"Letty's pregnant," Dom told them.

Mia's jaw dropped and Brian looked equally surprised, and then some sort of inhuman squeal of joy came out of the younger Toretto and she jumped up, hurrying around the table to wrap them both up in a tight hug.

"Oh my god you guys!" she laughed. "This is great!"

They hugged her back, then stood to hug Brian as well. Vince, though not seeming to understand what was going on, ran around hugging everyone as well.

"When are you due?" Mia asked, grabbing her sister-in-law to examine her.

"Uh… July," Letty replied.

"I wouldn't even know it looking at you that you're almost two months along" she said. "Morning sickness?"

"No, thank god. You know how much I love puking."

"You suck," Mia complained. "Oh my god I'm so excited. I can't wait. We can help you with the nursery and you know I'll answer any questions you have-"

"Mia," Letty interrupted, laughing. "Thanks. I know."

Mia hugged her again, then pulled back. "Come to think of it," she muttered. "Your boobs definitely look bigger."

"Oh not you too!" Letty laughed and pulled away.

"Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?" Brian was asking.

"Who knows?" Dom said. "I don't really have a preference as long as Letty and the baby are healthy."

Vince was watching them curiously. "Where baby?"

"Aunt Letty is going to have a baby," Brian explained, picking his son up. "So you're going to have a cousin. What do you think of that?"

He looked down at his aunt. "Now?"

She laughed. "No, you're going to have to wait a while."

"Cuz'n play Batman wif me?"

"Eventually," Brian told him. "But he or she will have to be born first and then be a baby for a while. But you'll have someone to play with."

The toddler smiled. "Okay."

"Sounds like Vince approves too," Dom chuckled, ruffling his nephew's hair.

"So you're going to tell everyone else tomorrow, right?" Brian asked. "Cause I really can't wait to see their faces when they find out Letty's going to be a mom."

"Very funny, O'Connor," Letty said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was scared too," Mia admitted, then shrugged when Brian looked at her in surprise. "Brian was so nervous that I didn't want to say anything. But yeah… I totally was." She laughed. "Like, about the pregnancy and labor and about being a Mom."

"Why, you're like a natural?" Letty asked, furrowing her brows as she sat down with her sister-in-law.

"I mean the only practice I had was dealing with grown men acting like idiots," Mia said with a grin.

"You mean your brother and his friends," Letty supplied.

"Exactly. Kids are different. Because they drink less beer and are cuter."

They both laughed while Brian and Dom exchanged looks.

"But you'll be fine," Mia assured. "You figure it out as you go. And it's easy to love your child." She smiled, looking over at her son. "Besides we'll totally help you out with everything."

"Honestly that is a relief because I have no idea what I am doing," Letty told her.

Dom put his arm around her, leaning over to kiss her. "We'll be great parents, Let."

"Yeah you guys will," Brian agreed. "Soon to add another little one to our family. This calls for a celebration."

"Well then let's get cooking," Letty said with a laugh. "I'm going to have my sip of champagne or whatever I'm allowed."

"Get used to that," Mia said, heading for the kitchen with the others at her back. "Though I had a harder time giving up coffee."

"Beer and coffee," Letty moaned. "It's going to be a long 7 months."

"And then we'll have a brand new little Toretto in the world," Brian said. "Pretty damn amazing. Congratulations you two. I guess it's my turn to play the Uncle gig."


	43. A Game

It was the summer after Freshman year and her 15th birthday was only days away, so maybe that was why she was feeling a little bit rebellious, or maybe it was just in her nature. Her parents had turned in early that night, though she was aware they weren't exactly _sleeping_. So she'd crept out of her bed while they were distracted and quietly snuck down and out the back door after dark.

Some seniors who were celebrating finally being finished with high school were throwing a party. And because of her cousin and because of the fact that most of the guys at school thought she was pretty chill, they'd scored an invite. It would have been popularity suicide not to go, Liana had said. Not that she actually gave a shit about that. She just wanted to go to a party.

They met at their friend Emilie's house with their overnight bags. Emilie's parents both worked the night shift, and her older sister Megan was willing to take them all to the party.

They all gathered in Em's room to get changed for the party. Lia had dared for a mini skirt but she stuck to shorts, black cut-offs that were just a hair too short to be Papi-approved. She never let him catch her wearing them. Liana tugged on a tight silvery tank top and sat down so that Emilie could curl her hair. She tugged on a red tank top and combed out her own hair. Megan soon appeared in the doorway.

"You girls want to borrow some make up?" she asked them. "It'll help you look older."

Though she wasn't really interested in wearing makeup, Liana and Emilie agreed, so she watched them get done up as she slipped on her black sandals.

After everyone was ready they piled into Megan's car, which was an old Jeep that she'd paid for herself, working nights waitressing. She turned up the music and sped off, taking the back roads through the hills of LA. Liana leaned over to shout in her ear over the music and the wind.

"Do you think the makeup really makes me look older?"

She turned to look at her carefully and shrugged slightly. "It makes you look sluttier," she offered.

Lia gasped and punched her in the arm, but she only laughed when she noticed her friend scrubbing off the too-red lipstick.

"Who cares if you look older?" she asked. "We're not trying to land boyfriends."

"Maybe you aren't…"

"And you are?" She raised a brow.

"I'm fifteen now. I can have a boyfriend if I want." Liana sat back, sniffing a little.

"You have a particular boy in mind?" She grinned at her, then leaned in. "Oh I know. It must be Devon Sutton."

"Of course you know," Lia hissed, frowning at her. "I've only told you."

"Is he going to be there tonight?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh, so the _real_ reason you wanted to come is out!" She laughed.

"Shut up," Liana told her, crossing her arms over my chest. "You'd better not embarrass me."

"Me? Would I ever do such a thing?" She looked innocent.

"Yes," her friend replied, just as Megan turned the Jeep into the long driveway of the house where the party was to be held.

It was massive, built into the hillside, with a driveway that seemed longer than her block. She gaped at it as they pulled up alongside all the other vehicles. They climbed out slowly to survey. The house was all lit up, and music was blasting so loud that they could easily hear it from here. People were scattered across the lawn dancing and drinking, socializing. The door stood open, propped by an empty keg of beer.

"Holy shit," she muttered and Liana could only nod in agreement as they followed Megan and Emilie inside. The house was a sprawl, but it was packed with people. Dancing bodies, all dressed for the LA heat. People drinking. People playing games, people making out. She widened her eyes as she saw more of some chick than she ever wanted to see and hastily grabbed Liana's hand, dragging her towards the kitchen.

There was booze everywhere. Kegs lining the counters and liquor bottles crowding the table. Of course, Liana hardly noticed because there were also some guys in the kitchen, including the aforementioned crush, Devon.

He was taking some decks of cards from Chris, the guy whose parents owned the place. They were apparently away for the weekend. Devon turned, spotting them in the doorway. He grinned.

"Hey ladies. Glad to see you could make it. You're just in time."

Liana squeezed her hand and smiled back widely. "Just in time for what?"

"We're going to play Kings. Want to join us?" He held up the deck of cards.

"Sure!" Lia agreed. She wanted to elbow her friend for the enthusiasm.

"How do you play?" she asked instead.

"It's a drinking game," Chris said. "We're going to use beer so you guys should be fine. Unless you're lightweights."

She didn't want to admit that she'd never had anything stronger than a couple of sips of beer at family cookouts. Beer was only like 5% alcohol anyway, right?

"We'll be fine," she assured them evenly.

Chris smiled and Devon passed them the decks of cards. Both of the boys picked up a pair of kegs each and carried them out the kitchen door towards the backyard. She shrugged at Liana and they followed.

They rounded up some more players and gathered around the back table on the deck, each person with a cup and a shot glass, and an empty cup placed in the center. Chris went over the rules as beer was poured all around. She lifted the cup to sniff at the beverage and pulled a face.

"What is this shit?" she muttered.

"The cheapest beer around," some blonde chick sitting next to her said. "It doesn't matter. Drink enough of anything and you can get trashed."

She eyed the blonde with hidden disdain and sat back in her chair as Devon got the game started.

After one round it was more than apparent that the guys were trying to get all of the girls wasted. She was more than a little suspicious about this, and the continued 'House Rule' of "Ladies only". However, since the beer was cheap it wasn't all that strong. Perhaps ending the first round clear-headed had her feeling too confident, which was why she agreed to play another.

This time the guys introduced the house rule of "Jell-O shots".

By the time the third round was coming to an end she was feeling more than a little fuzzy headed. Luckily Megan found them then, and dragged them away from the game, flipping off the guys and calling them creeps.

She didn't want to tell Liana but she was pretty sure she saw Devon making out with that blonde before Megan pulled them around the side of the house towards the front where she was parked.

Emilie was already waiting in the passenger seat and she looked at them in surprise.

"You guys got drunk oh my god!"

She cringed, putting her hands to her head. "Don't scream," she muttered, crawling into the back seat. Liana sprawled beside her, immediately passing out.

"We have to get you guys home," Megan said.

Emilie gave directions to Liana's house first and they woke up the girl when they arrived. Emilie helped her sneak around to the back door and inside. After about 10 minutes she came back outside, her eyes wide.

"I got her into her room then she just… puked all over the floor!"

"Ew…" she mumbled.

"I know. I just put her in bed on her stomach with a trash bin next to her…. Maybe her parents will just think she was sick."

"Except it will smell like alcohol," Megan deadpanned, shaking her head.

She drove away, and Lia was abandoned to whatever her fate might be.

Her head was pounding by the time they arrived at her place, and she was feeling unwell, but she assured Emilie and Meg she was fine, creeping alongside the house and slipping through the back door. She let out a slow breath as she stepped foot into the kitchen. The house was quiet. Success. She stepped into the living room, and her foot had only barely touched the bottom step when she heard a faint creak of the floor above her, footsteps padding across the carpet. She hastily backed into the kitchen and looked down at herself.

Think. How could she explain this?

She tugged off her shorts and sandals, ran her fingers through her hair to muss it, then shoved her shoes and shorts into the coat closet. She grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge, hopefully to cover any booze on her breath, pouring herself a cup. She took a long drink, then squared her shoulders and started up the steps to her room.

Her father was coming out of the bathroom when she reached the landing. He looked at her, yawned, then turned and went back to his room.

What? He hadn't even asked anything. Maybe she'd just been that convincing?

Hardly believing her luck she went into her room and crawled under the covers, setting the juice on her bedside table. Head pounding she dropped off to sleep immediately.

When she woke up a note was taped to her forehead. She frowned, wincing at the sunlight washing her room in bright yellow. It must already be the afternoon. She slowly peeled the note off her face and opened it.

_You are grounded. Nice try._

_Dad_

Shit.


	44. A Summer Day

"You know, the nice thing about driving two hours outside of LA is the beaches are less crowded," Roman said, closing the door to his car and heading around to the trunk. "The annoying thing is that whenever we drive anywhere with you idiots we end up having to race."

"You're just bitter because you lost," Brian laughed. He had already pulled a large cooler, an umbrella and a couple of beach chairs out of his car. Mia was standing beside him, shouldering a large beach bag stuffed with towels and such as she kept ahold of her four-year-old son's hand.

Tej got out of the passenger side of Rome's car, shaking his head. "Shameful man, come on. They both got more shit in their cars than you and you still can't beat them."

"Shut up," Roman frowned, then went to get the beers and towels from the back of his car.

Letty was lounging against Dom's car laughing at them as Dom got his baby girl out of her car seat in the back. With one arm he tucked her against his shoulder and she grabbed at his arm with tiny hands, blinking at the rest of them with big dark eyes. Roman grinned at her. Babies were damn cute. Especially when they were someone else's babies.

"You mind giving us a hand, boys?" Letty asked, nodding to the massive cooler beside the car. Roman sighed and shoved his bag and beer at Tej, then moved to pick it up.

Letty grabbed a couple of beach bags and the chairs while Dom took the smaller cooler in his free hand. Locking the cars the group wandered down towards the beach.

Mia pointed out a nice spot and led the way. She started spreading out blankets and towels in the sand as Vince dug around in her bag for a pail and shovel. Roman set down the cooler and helped Brian plant the umbrella firmly into the sand, packing it down around it. Tej unfolded a chair and tugged off his shirt, plopping down in it.

"Yo man, pass me a beer," he said.

Roman frowned at him but fished one from the cooler, adding his own supply to chill. He passed the beer to his friend, then turned pull some sunblock out of his bag. He tossed it at Brian.

"Don't forget this shit. Last time we came to the beach you looked like a lobster."

Brian caught it. "Very funny," he complained, but he put it on anyway.

Mia was already spraying her son with his own sunscreen and slathering more on his face. The boy groaned, but stood still obediently until she was finished.

"Daddy! Uncle Roman come swimmin'!" the little boy called, then ran for the water.

Tugging off his shirt, Rome hurried to follow, with Brian on his heels. "Don't go out without us!" Brian warned the boy.

Tej shook his head, scanning the beach from behind his sunglasses. He spotted them, some hotties walking along the water. Oh hell yes. He stood, then looked over at Dom.

"Hey man… can I borrow your kid for a minute?"

"What?" Dom frowned at him.

"I swear I'll bring her right back I just need like… babies are hottie bait."

Letty was staring at him and started laughing. Mia shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"It's true," she agreed. "Brian gets hit on every time he goes out with Vince and I'm not there."

"Please man, I will totally owe you one," Tej was practically begging.

"Oh hell, just give her to him, Dom," Letty said. "I kind of want to see this."

Dom passed over the baby carefully. Tej grinned at him and then tried to look casual as he wandered down to the water with the baby. The little girl stared up at him, then grabbed his ear.

"Hey hey," he whispered to her. "Play it cool monster, and I promise I'll put a kicking stereo in your first car."

She babbled at him and patted at his face. Tej could only grin as he heard a chorus of "awws" sounding behind him. He turned, smiling.

"She's so cute," the dark-haired beauty leading the trio said. "Yours?"

"Ah nah," he said. "I'm just her Uncle. But you know… I love kids."

Dom watched from the towel as Letty tugged off her tank top and stepped out of her shorts.

"I seriously cannot believe that is working," he said.

"Yeah well, don't go getting any ideas," Letty muttered.

He laughed. "Already got the attention of the lady I want," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

She smiled. "You got more than my attention, big guy," she murmured against his lips, kissing him again.

"Can you guys give it a rest?" Mia complained. "Or are you trying to give her a little sibling?"

Letty stared at her sister-in-law. "Hell, no. I just lost the last of the pregnancy weight. I am not doing that again."

Mia laughed, pulling a magazine out of her beach bag. "Oh I hear you there." She laid back on the towel, soaking up the LA sun. "Getting my body back was so nice after pregnancy."

Dom shook his head at them. "You're both crazy. Look at you." He sat down on the towel.

Mia posed from where she was sprawled on the towel. "We look good. We know it."

"Yeah so does that bozo in the green shorts over there," Letty replied, getting some beers out of the cooler.

Mia turned to look over at said 'bozo' with a frown as Letty settled between Dom's legs to lean back against him, offering him one of the beers. Tej was returning to them with a pleased look on his face as he passed Letty the baby.

"Guess who got himself a date?" he asked, sitting down.

Letty set her daughter on the blanket and the baby girl rolled onto her belly, little hands grabbing at her mother's leg. Her dark curls stuck out from under her white hat and she was wearing a little red swimsuit with white polka dots on it.

"You only got a date because of my daughter," Dom told Tej.

"Sounds like she takes after her Dad," Mia said with a laugh.

"Do you hear that?" Letty asked her daughter, tickling her bare feet. "That's what you get for helping your Uncle Tej pick up chicks."

The baby giggled and squealed, rolling away from her mother's hands. "Mami!" she squeaked, sitting up and scooting away from her on her butt.

Letty laughed at her daughter as she crawled away to the edge of the towel. Then she put one hand in the sand before quickly snatching it back. She stared at her palm, curling her hand into a little fist, then opening it again. She reached out to poke at the sand with her fingers, and then grabbed fistfuls of it, giggling gleefully.

"Oh lord," Letty muttered. "You're going to be a mess when we get home."

The baby belly-crawled into the warm, damp sand, wiggling her feet and covering herself in the substance before Letty leaned forward to pluck her up. The baby sputtered, sand on her face. She rubbed her hands against her sandy cheeks with a whine, spitting sand out of her mouth.

"Yeah not very tasty is it?" Letty asked, passing the girl to Dom.

She whined and stuck out her tongue. Letty got a water bottle out and wet a paper towel, wiping her tongue off, then brushing the sand off her gently.

Dom sat her on his lap gently, pulling her hat off once she was under the shade of the umbrella with him. "No more eating sand," he told her.

She grinned up at him and stuck her fist into her mouth.

"Charming," he laughed.

She babbled something around her hand and pointed as Brian came walking up, carrying Vince, Roman not far behind him. They were all dripping water. Mia sat up to pass over some towels, wrapping Vince up in one and ruffling it over his hair.

"I'm hungry, Mommy," he said.

"Well it's about lunch time," Mia agreed, reaching for the cooler. "Everyone want sandwiches?"

There was a chorus of 'Yes' and she passed the food around. Vince sprawled on his stomach between his mother and his Uncle, eating with one hand and driving a hot wheels around with the other. Letty sat across from them, watching in amusement as she fed her daughter small bites of her own sandwich.

"Did you see Tej using your niece to score himself a date?" Mia asked Brian.

It was Roman who started laughing. "Oh man, you have so little game you need to use a baby."

"As opposed to you and your classy harem parties and casino buffet vouchers?" Tej asked.

"Hey man! That was an emergency contingency plan."

"Oh really? Cause I thought that was what you left on the dresser the morning after," Tej said.

The others laughed.

"No respect," Roman muttered.

After eating Dom stood with his daughter and Letty joined him, slipping her hand into his free one. The family walked down to the edge of the water together. Letty squeezed at his hand and gazed out over the ocean.

"Makes me miss the beaches in the DR. So many less people." She grinned up at him.

He laughed, wrapping his arm around her to kiss her. "We'll have to go back some day."

She rested her head against his shoulder. "Nice to be able to come and go, to not worry…" She looked up at their daughter, who was watching her with very familiar dark eyes. "To give her a more stable life," she finished, kissing the baby's little cheek.

Dom smiled, stroking her dark hair as he lingered at the water's edge with her, the waves lapping against their feet and legs. He wrapped his arms around her and held his family close.


	45. A Crash

Dom was in the driveway washing his car when he heard the crash.

Letty was gone for the afternoon, out with Mia doing something or other, so he was at home in charge of their six-year-old daughter. She was more apt to want to play outside than lock herself up in her room or plant herself in front of the television, so he took the time to wash his car and keep an eye on her. He'd gotten her bike out of the garage, a shiny red little thing that she had outright refused to let him put training wheels on.

And she'd fallen more than once, and he'd been eagle-eyed whenever she'd take it out, staying close and worrying over every spill she had. But she'd gotten the hang of it for the most part by now and would happily ride up and down the block for hours.

So he'd left her to it, watching as she rode past the driveway every couple of minutes, listening to her laughter and the sound of her little voice as she sang to herself in Spanish. She'd greet all the neighbors who came outside cheerfully, more than happy to show off for whoever was paying attention.

Dom smiled as he sprayed down the charger with the hose, but he was quickly dropping it when he heard the little scream followed by the loud thud.

Dom ran down the driveway to the front of the house, his eyes scanning.

Two houses down the little red bike was on its side, one wheel in the air spinning slowly. It was half-leaning against the side of a dark green van. His daughter was only a foot or so from the bike, where perhaps she had been thrown, pushing herself up off the sidewalk. Her knees were bloodied, as were her hands. As Dom went to her side he could see that there was blood on her lips too, and her eyes were teary, though she was stubbornly trying not to cry, sniffling and staring down at her hands in some state of shock.

"Hey, hey," he murmured, gently sliding his hands under her legs and around her little back to lift her up. "You're okay right? Let's go inside and get a better look at you… get you patched up."

She looked up at him with her big eyes, her face scrunching up. For a horrified moment Dom thought she was going to start crying, but then she spit into her hand, a bloody little tooth. She stared at it, tears making silent tracks down her cheeks.

Dom abandoned the bike for the moment, carrying her back into the house through the front door. He took her into the downstairs bathroom, sitting her on the countertop beside the sink. He grabbed a little paper cup.

"Drop your tooth in that."

"Do I get a dollar?" she sniffled.

He had to pause to keep from laughing. "I'm sure you'll get money under your pillow for your tooth, baby girl. Let's get you cleaned up."

"It hurts, Papi," she complained, but sat still as he washed off her hands gently in the sink, using a soft cloth to wipe away the bits of dirt and gravel.

Luckily under the dirt her hands were only scraped up. Dom sprayed them with first aid spray to numb the pain and disinfect them. The little girl squirmed and waved her hands around until the stinging went away.

Next, he turned his attention to her knees. He used the soft cloth to dab away the blood and dirt and his daughter squeezed her eyes shut, whimpering pitifully about how much it "hurted". These were also sprayed, then he dug around in the cabinet for her superhero band aids. The biggest ones had The Hulk on them and she pointed to the picture as he gently smoothed them over her knees.

"Hulk gets stronger when he's angry, Papi," she told him, as he filled a new cup with water and passed it to her.

"He does, doesn't he?" he asked. "Now swish the water around in your mouth and spit it into the sink. You've got blood from where you knocked your tooth out."

She turned to look at herself in the mirror, opening her mouth wide to see the missing tooth, just to the right of her two front ones. She stuck her tongue in the gap, then sipped at the cup, swished and spat.

"Yucky," she told him, watching the blood go down the drain.

He had her rinse again, then lifted her down from the counter. "We'll leave your tooth here for now. Just remember it before you go to bed tonight."

"I want to tell Mami!" she said, hopping out of her bathroom with him at her heels. Then she tilted her head to look up at him with a sort of measuring gaze. "Can we get ice cream?"

He smiled down at her. "I think that more than deserves an ice cream."

"I hardly cried at all, Papi," she told him, reaching for his hand.

"I know. But it's okay to cry a little," he told her as she tugged at his hand until he reached down to pick her up. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin against his shoulder.

He took a moment to relish in the feel of her little arms around his neck, smoothing a hand over her dark hair. She tried so hard to be brave and strong, but she was still his little girl at the end of the day. She still needed the comfort of a hug.

"Do you want to take grandpa's car to go get ice cream?" he asked, carrying her out to the driveway. The Charger was often left in the garage, not used for regular driving. But on special occasions he pulled it out.

"Yeah!" she cheered, arms in the air.

"Okay." He set her down. "I'm going to move my car so I can pull it out of the garage. Why don't you go get your bike to put away?"

"Okay!" She ran off, her injuries nearly forgotten.

Dom smiled after her, pulling his car out to park it alongside the curb. Then he walked up to open the garage just as the little girl was dragging her bike around the corner of the house.

"Papi!" she called, looking forlorn. "It's broked!"

He went to help her, picking up the bike easily to examine it. The front wheel was deflated.

"It's okay. We'll get a new tire on the way back from ice cream, okay? I'll fix it."

She smiled up at him brightly, with her new grin missing one of its teeth.

"Okay!" she chirped, then trotted over to the garage. She pressed her palms against the side of the charger, looking hopeful. "Can I sit up front?"

"You can sit up front," he relented, putting the booster seat in the passenger side for her. She eyed it with some disdain, as she did all things that she claimed were "for babies", but her excitement over the front seat overrode that and she quickly climbed in to buckle up, swinging her legs impatiently.

Dom went around to get into the driver's seat after closing her door. He put on the radio for her and backed out of the driveway, heading down the street towards the main road. He could see his daughter mimicking steering out of his peripheral vision and chuckled faintly. She definitely had driving in her blood. Driving and fearlessness. There weren't many six-year-olds who would have had such a crash on their bike and hardly cried over it. Dom was certain that she wouldn't hesitate to get back on the bike the next chance she had.

She was like both her parents in that. And that made him proud at the same time it worried him. But at least she wasn't behind the wheel of a car just yet.

"How did you crash your bike?" he asked her as he pulled down the street towards her favorite ice cream parlor.

She glanced at him, thoughtful look on her little face, then tucked her tongue into the gap where her missing tooth was. "I was going too fast, Papi," she finally said, blinking at him as if the answer was obvious.

"Too fast?" he asked, arching a brow. "Are you sure that was why?"

"Well…" she murmured. "Too fast to stop!"

"You need to slowly let yourself come to a stop. Don't squeeze your breaks all the sudden. Is that what you did?"

She frowned to herself, looking uncertain. "Maybe….?"

"Next time just stop pedaling until you slow down," he suggested.

"Okay, Papi." She smiled up at him. "Do you drive a bike too?"

He laughed softly. "Not really. When I was your age I did. But I have cars now."

"I want a car too," she said.

"You'll have one someday. For now you learn how to not crash your bike."

She pouted at him but then he pulled up in front of the ice cream place and she quickly forgot about it, unbuckling herself and hopping out of the car. When Dom came around she grabbed onto his hand excitedly, tugging him towards the window where the line was.

"Can I get a waffle cone, Papi?" she asked, bouncing on her toes.

"Sure can," he agreed.

They bought their ice cream and walked to the nearby park where they sat in the grass under the shade of the tree and watched people. She got chocolate ice cream all over her face and melting down her arms, eating off the bottom of the cone first and making a mess that made him groan in frustration. A stack of napkins later and she was dry, though still slightly sticky as they made their way back to the car. She hung on his arm and skipped along, wired on sugar and her own endless supply of energy. However on the drive home she crashed from the sugar-high, dozing off in the cherished front seat. Dom stopped at a red light and looked over at her with a smile.

Being a dad was definitely one of the best things he'd ever done with his life. And some days it was almost as exciting as life used to be.

Almost.


	46. A Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Father's Day chapter.

It was early on a Sunday morning when Dom woke to a pressure on his chest. He opened his eyes, blinking up at the little round face above him. Big dark eyes and a halo of dark curls around her head. She giggled, her face splitting into a childish grin.

"Mownin' Papi," she said, smacking a kiss against his cheek.

Dom laughed, wrapping his arms around her little body. She sprawled atop his chest, arms coming around his neck as she snuggled close. Her hair smelled like strawberry tear-free shampoo. Dom turned his head to look at the clock. It was 9 am, meaning Letty had snuck out of bed earlier to let him sleep. The three-year-old in his arms was already bathed and dressed for the day, wearing little denim shorts and a yellow tank top. She sat up and wiggled her toes.

"Mami and me made you bweakfast!" she announced, scooting backwards off the bed and tugging at his arm. "Get up Papi!"

Dom yawned, sitting up and stretching. He went to his closet and changed into a pair of grey work-pants and a black t-shirt. His daughter was bouncing around the room as he tugged on his boots and laced them up. He chuckled, then stood and scooped her up into his arms, heading down to the kitchen.

Letty was already there, putting away something in the cupboard. She smiled and greeted him with a kiss.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah why didn't you wake me earlier?" he asked, setting his daughter down. She scurried off into the other room as he sat at the table where a big stack of blueberry pancakes was already waiting for him.

Letty grinned, pouring him a cup of coffee and passing it to him. "Don't get used to it, but you know its father's day. It was all your daughter's idea."

"Really?" He chuckled.

"I suspect your sister planted the thought in her head though."

"That makes sense," he agreed, eating his breakfast.

Letty smiled, sitting across from him with her own cup of coffee. "You deserve it. You're a great father, Dom. You know that."

He glanced at her, meeting her serious gaze across the table. She lowered her lashes sheepishly, but he reached over to take her hand, lacing their fingers together.

"I do my best. Try to live up to the standards my own Dad set."

She squeezed his hand, sipping at her coffee. "We got one lucky kid."

Dom finished his breakfast. "We heading to Mia's this afternoon?"

"Yup, of course." She chuckled. "You even have to ask?"

"No." He grinned.

"Papi!"

Dom turned his head to see his daughter standing in the doorway. She was clutching a thin box wrapped in red paper against her chest with one arm and holding a card in the other.

"I made you a pwesent," she announced, coming towards him.

"Did you?" he asked, taking the card that she passed him first.

"Uh huh," she pushed the wrapped box onto the table and climbed into his lap. "I hewp you open it."

He chuckled softly. "Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Letty was smirking at him as he slid his thumb under the card envelope to open it. It was made of stiff stock paper, but the picture on the front was scribbled in crayon. A long black car-like shape with grey wheels and a few sloppily drawn stick figures dominated the white background. There was a yellow house-like creation behind it.

At the bottom in black marker it said "For Papi" in Mia's handwriting. Dom smiled and opened the card. Inside there was another drawing with the house and even more stick figures gathered around.

"I told Aunt Mia what to write," she said, pointing to the words on the card.

It read. "To the best Papi in the whole world. Happy Father's Day. I love you." It was signed with a sloppy scribble that he could only guess his daughter had done herself.

Dom smiled and hugged the girl close, stroking her dark hair. Truth be told, she was the best gift he could have gotten. She hugged him back, then pulled away.

"Open youw pwesent Papi!"

Dom took the box and she helped him tug away the red paper with her little hands. Inside was a framed photo. It was a picture Letty had taken one afternoon, when he'd been working on the Charger in the garage out back. He was bent over the engine, a wrench in one hand, but his attention was turned down to his daughter. She was standing on a small wooden footstool, wearing little dirty jeans and a grey tank top, her hair pulled into a ponytail right on top of her head. She was grinning at him and pointing at the engine.

Dom ran his fingers over the photo and smiled, looking over at Letty. She gave him a little grin.

"Thought you'd like to have it," she said.

"It's perfect," he agreed, dropping a kiss atop his daughter's head. It was a photo that made him remember his own childhood, his own relationship with his father. How much he missed his Dad, even now.

But he had a family of his own, a child of his own. He was going to keep trying to live up to the standard his father had set. He was going to give her a good life. She was going to be happy and safe.

"Do you like youw pwesent, Papi?"

"I love it. Thank you baby girl."

She giggled when he kissed her cheek, a pleased expression on her little face. Then she looked up at him, patting his jaw. "I luv you, Papi."

"I love you too, honey."

She hugged him again, then scooted off his lap onto the floor, scurrying out of the kitchen. Dom watched her go with a smile, then turned to find Letty looking at him. She stood and moved around the table to kiss him softly. He pulled back to look at her.

"I'm the lucky one," he told her, drawing her close again.


	47. A Diabolical Duo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiddies make amusing trouble.

It was a hot summer day only a few weeks after her third birthday and she was spending the day at Aunt Mia's house. Mami and Papi were taking a 'day trip' and she didn't really know what that meant except that whenever they did she'd go to sleep at night at Aunt Mia's house and wake up in her own bed at home the next morning. Mami and Papi would be back and everything would be back to normal.

Uncle Brian had set up the inflatable pool for her and Vince in the yard and Aunt Mia had helped her put on her swimsuit and brought out lemonade for everyone. Uncle Brian washed his car as she splashed her cousin happily, her aunt sitting nearby with a magazine and a drink.

Vince got out the pool toys, which included a little green ball and some snorkel masks, and they made funny faces at each other, giggling and having breath-holding competitions. They tossed the ball around and Vince showed her how he'd learned to swim at the classes he took at the pool, kicking his legs out until he splashed her so much that water went up her nose!

Aunt Mia stood up, disappearing into the house to answer the phone, hardly noticed by the two children as she aggressively splashed her cousin. Vince splashed her back until she tackled him into the pool, and they wrestled around, thrashing around and giggling until they had to come up for air, breathless and faces dripping with water.

Uncle Brian shook his head at them, smiling as he went back into the house. "You two better get out of there and dried off soon. I'm going to get lunch started."

"Okay!" they chorused, then went back to splashing as the screen door slammed shut behind him.

"Wait!" Vince ordered suddenly, holding his hands up.

She stilled, her eyes wide as she looked up at him, crouching in the water as if to scoop more up into the air towards him.

"I have an idea," he told her, clambering out of the pool.

She was quick to follow, scooting over the blow-up edge with a little bounce, the plastic squeaking against her bare legs. She giggled, curling her toes into the grass as she hurried after her cousin. He led her to the garage where an open paper bag was half full of something or other. Vince grabbed at it, hauling it backwards with effort.

"What's that?" she asked, moving to grab ahold of the side and help him, pulling backwards with a little grunt. "It's heavy!"

"It's play-doh!" Vince told her. "My daddy used it to make the path and I helped! You just add water and you make it into things!"

"Wo-ow," she breathed as they dragged the bag over to the pool.

Vince crouched down to lift up the bottom, emptying the white-powdery contents into the pool. She watched with wide-eyes as it spread through the water, at first a soupy white mixture like milk, then as she stuck her hand in it she realized it felt thicker, like oatmeal or paste. Giggling she stirred her arms through it and picked up handfuls, plopping them back into the pool where they hit with a loud smack. Vince clambered over the pool's edge and into the mixture, laughing.

"I'm gonna build a slide!" he announced, reaching down to scoop up some more of the paste-like stuff.

She watched him, rubbing her hands together to smear at the paste. It was starting to dry to coat her arms and it felt funny, so she reached into the pool to scoop up some more.

"I'm gonna make a car," she told him, dropping her pile of 'play-doh' to the grass and crouching down to pat at it with her hands.

She giggled at the plopping noise it made, and the weird squelching sounds of Vince moving around in the pool.

"Stop fawting!" she accused, then giggled uncontrollably.

Vince laughed too. "I'm not!" he insisted, piling his own mixture against the side of the pool.

She frowned, poking at her pile of doh that was hardening quickly, then reached into the pool to scoop up more.

"It's not squishy anymore!" she complained, molding the lumpy, grainy material between her hands.

"Get the hose!" Vince told her. "Maybe if we add more water."

She tossed her lump of yucky doh onto the ground and wiped her hands against her thighs with a grimace before scurrying towards the driveway where Uncle Brian had left the hose. Grabbing it she dragged it back towards the pool where Vince was waiting. He was groaning and wiggling around. She stared at him.

"Awe you doin' the potty dance?" she asked.

"No!" he groaned. "I'm stuck!"

She frowned, peering into the pool. The pasty grey goo was lighter in color now, and only dark in the very center of the pool. Poking at the surface she found it solid and her eyes widened.

"It's a rock!"

"Add the water!" Vince cried.

She nodded, and sprayed the hose into the pool, but it only slapped against the now hardened material and splashed back. She let go of the trigger.

"It's not wowking!"

"Try again!" Vince ordered, squirming around more. He looked scared and like he was about to cry, so she nodded hastily and sprayed the hose all over the pool. Vince got soaking wet again, but the rock did not turn back into goo.

"What are you two do-" Uncle Brian's statement was half cut off and she looked up with wide eyes to see him standing at the back door with a plate full of uncooked hamburgers.

"Shit," he muttered, and she knew it was a bad word but she didn't say anything because she had a feeling they were in trouble. Vince was crying now and Aunt Mia came out the door as well, standing in shock before she shoved Uncle Brian back into the house.

"Call the fire department!" Aunt Mia ordered.

She was confused because no one was on fire, but she didn't say anything to that either. Aunt Mia was already across the lawn towards them, her face fixed in a careful calm expression. Vince was reaching up for her and she leaned down to wrap her arms around him.

"It's okay," she soothed, stroking his hair. "You're not hurt. It's fine. We're going to get you out of there."

"Mommy it turned to stone!" he wailed.

"It's cement, Vince. Didn't Daddy tell you that when you helped him lay the walkway? Remember, it starts out like a paste but it hardens to stone."

He sniffled, looking down at the pool full of stone around his legs. "I don't know…"

His cousin watched on with huge dark eyes when the firemen arrived. The brought sharp looking axes and big heavy hammers and Vince was scared. He didn't want them to break him out because he was afraid of getting hurt.

But Aunt Mia explained that firemen know how to do these sorts of things and that they wouldn't hurt him. That all they were going to do was get him out. The firemen said that if he was a big brave boy for them, then they would take him out front to go on the fire truck! She was jealous and pouted a little bit, shuffling her feet.

"Can I go too?" she asked.

One of the firemen assured her that there was plenty of room on the fire truck and they could both get a tour once Vince was freed.

So she sat with Uncle Brian on the back steps, wrapped in a Batman towel as Aunt Mia held Vince's hand and told him stories and the firemen broke up all the rock in the pool. Luckily, because Vince had been wiggling around, it wasn't suctioned tight to his legs, so once it was broken into pieces the firemen lifted them away and freed her cousin. He jumped up into Aunt Mia's arms and she hugged him tightly, thanking the firemen over and over.

Then Vince asked about the truck and the firemen took them out front where it was parked, all big and red and shiny in the middle of the street. The lights were off and so were the sirens, but there was a big metal ladder on the top. A fireman lifted her in and Vince climbed up after her. They each got a turn in the big driver's seat, pretending to steer the wheel and they let her honk the horn just a little.

The firemen gave them the tour, letting them turn on the lights and watch the way it made everything outside the windows flash and flicker. She tried on one of the firemen's hats, grinning wide as she looped her arm around Vince and Aunt Mia took a picture.

"Okay guys," her aunt said. "Thank the nice men. I think it's time we let them get back to work. And I bet you're really hungry now since it's almost dinner time!"

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly and she gasped, passing the helmet back to the fireman with a toothy grin.

"Thank you! Gracias!" she said, hopping down from the truck and running for the back yard, Vince hot on her heels.

Uncle Brian had already started up the grill and all the stone from the pool was now stacked next to the garage in big pieces. The pool itself was empty and partially deflated and she poked it with her toe idly.

"Is it broken?"

"A few leaks now," Aunt Mia said with a nod. "We'll have to buy a new one."

She and Vince both whined at the lack of a place to swim.

"I guess that will teach you not to pour cement into the next pool, huh?" Uncle Brian asked.

They nodded solemnly, and while it seemed they'd definitely learned their lesson in this case, there was no doubt that the two could find themselves in more trouble in no time at all.


	48. A Magical Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disney!

It had all been Mia's idea.

Her carefully thought-out, plotted and executed idea.

And of course, once she'd mentioned the idea to the kids there had been _no_ escaping it.

They were going to Disney Land.

It only made sense, Mia had said. Every child should get the chance to experience the magic of Disney! Letty had rolled her eyes at her. But it was so close, only about a half hour drive away, and Mia said all they had to do was pull the kids out of school for a few days and go off season. They could even avoid the bulk of the tourists and crowds.

It hadn't been hard to convince Dom, especially once his daughter had started talking about it excitedly. After school Mia would let the kids get on the computer at the garage and pick out all the rides they wanted to go on. With the littlest one now at the age of ten, there shouldn't be much she wasn't big enough for.

Brian seemed amused by the whole situation while Letty said that taking their children to Disney Land was the most cliché thing in the world.

Mia had just laughed. "Cliché or not," she said. "Every kid deserves to go at least once. And we've already taken them to Mexico and to Brazil to visit Rosa and Nico. Not many kids can say that."

Of course, while Letty had laughed about it, she had already arranged for her daughter to have the days off of school, and helped Mia rearrange the schedule at the garage so they could close for half a week. However, when Mia had suggested renting a van or something else larger so they could all car-pool together, Letty had flat out refused.

"Mia it's a thirty minute drive. We can take our own cars."

"You just don't want to be caught dead in a van," Mia laughed.

"Yeah well… I don't. And neither will the boys. We're not soccer moms here."

Mia had relented and they'd arranged to meet up at the hotel on Wednesday morning. It was mid-October when they went and Letty watched her daughter race out the house in the morning with more enthusiasm than she'd seen in years. The ten-year old settled herself in the back seat of Dom's car, started up a racing game on her tablet and announced she was 'Ready to go'.

LA's morning traffic turned the 30 minute journey into an hour and a half one, and Mia texted her constantly along the way.

_Now don't you wish we'd brought the van?_

_No,_ she typed back.

_Aren't you bored? Dom isn't really chatty in the car._

_Neither am I. You're thinking of yourself. Read a damn book or something. I thought you were always prepared._

Mia had sent only ':P' in response and then fallen silent, presumably getting out a book she really had been prepared with the whole time.

Thankfully road trips were never difficult, and hadn't been even when their daughter had been smaller. She loved the car, and had always been content in her seat as long as she could watch out the window. Now that she was older she had other ways to entertain herself, sprawled across the back seat with her bare feet up against the window, ear buds in as she watched a movie on her tablet.

Kids these days were so spoiled.

"You know," she commented to Dom, shifting in her seat as the endless lanes of traffic stretched out in front of them. "I almost think your sister is more excited than the kids are."

"She might be," he replied, laughing. "If she starts stopping to ask for Mickey's autograph we can stage an intervention."

Once they were outside the city limits the traffic cleared and it wasn't long before they were arriving at the so-called "Happiest place on Earth". Even their daughter abandoned her tablet, pressing her face against the window in awe as they drove through.

"Are we staying in a hotel in the park?" she squeaked excitedly. "Aunt Mia said it was really expensive."

"Yeah well we worked something out, so what do you say?" Dom asked.

"Thank you Papi!" She paused. "Do I get my own room?"

"You and Vince are sharing," Letty said. "You get your own beds, but your room is attached to ours and to Aunt Mia and Uncle Brian's, so that doesn't mean you can go crazy in there."

"We won't break anything," she promised, grinning excitedly.

They pulled into the parking lot about a minute ahead of the other couple and Dom went around to unload the trunk as Letty helped her daughter gather all the stuff she'd scattered across the back seat.

"Where the heck is your other shoe?" she asked the girl who got down on the floor and stuck a skinny arm under the seat.

"Found it!" she announced, slipping on the sandal and then running over to her cousin.

At thirteen, Vince seemed to have inherited his mother's sunny personality and hadn't yet descended into the pit of teenagedom that made him too cool to hang out with his family. He wrapped his arm around his cousin, and then tickled her while she screamed with laughter.

"We're sharing a room!" she told him.

"That means we're jumping on your bed first!" He told her and raced for the hotel lobby with her hot on his heels.

"There will be no jumping on the beds," Mia scolded as she hurried after them.

Letty only grinned and shook her head, as Brian shut the trunk of his car and they all followed after them.

Mia dealt with the check-in process as the kids explored the lobby, peering into the gift shop and quickly scoping out the arcade.

"Can we have some quarters?" Vince asked.

"No you can't," Brian told him. "We're going to put our stuff in the rooms and then go to the park. You don't want to waste your time in the arcade. You can play video games at home."

Vince groaned at his father. "We can play tonight? The park closes at like nine!"

"You're going to be too tired for video games," Mia told him, passing out the key cards for their rooms.

"No way!" Vince shook his head, then grinned as he grabbed his key. "Race you upstairs!"

He took off. "Vincent Jesse, no running in the hotel!" Mia shouted after him.

His cousin grabbed her own key and raced after him.

"You expected this, didn't you?" Letty asked as they headed for the elevator. "Those kids are wired on a normal day."

"I guess so," Mia agreed, looking over a pamphlet in her hands. "Oh there's a spa… we should go."

Letty wrinkled her nose. "When are we going to have time for that?"

"We can go in the morning before the park opens."

"You want me to wake up early on vacation so that I can let someone put mud on my face?"

Mia sighed at her, then eyed her husband. Brian held up his hands. "Oh no… I'm not into facials either."

"It's fine," Mia said airily. "Letty will come with me."

"You really need to work on your bribery technique," Letty told her drily.

"Just you wait," Mia replied. "You'll definitely agree to come."

The elevator stopped, sparing them from further debate and they walked down to their rooms. Surprisingly, the children hadn't wrecked their room yet and as soon as their bags were stowed in the rooms they headed back down to the lobby to head to the park entrance.

Vince unfolded the map as his cousin peered over his shoulder. "Oh look!" she pointed. "There's the car ride! Can we go there?"

"Let's go that way and go on the other rides we want to do on our way," Vince suggested and the adults let the children lead on.

Letty was holding onto Dom's hand as she looked around. "So many strollers. Why would you even come here with an infant? They can't go on the rides even."

"For their older kids or maybe they live in the area, I guess," Mia said. "But there are an awful lot of them." She looked at her friend. "You _seriously_ never wanted to come here when you were a kid?"

"Of course," she muttered. "What kid didn't? My Dad said we'd go when he got back from tour but… that never happened. And after that I just didn't really think about it again, you know?"

She leaned into Dom who wrapped his arm around her, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. She slipped her arm around his waist and smiled. "So I guess I'd better try to have fun, huh?"

He laughed softly, squeezing her shoulder. "Hell, try. You're going to forget about yourself and have fun."

"Yeah," Mia said with a smile. "C'mon. We'll be like kids again. I'll even go on the rides that make me scream."

"Just no teacups," Brian insisted, putting a hand on his belly. "Those things make me barf."

"How do you have a weak stomach O'Connor?" Dom asked. "You've flipped plenty of cars."

"Yeah but not around and around and around… Oh god I'm getting sick just thinking about it."

"Dad, don't be lame!" Vince said. "The teacups are for girls anyway!"

"Oh I see how it is," Mia said. "Apparently they're not _that_ girly if none of you are man enough to go on them."

"I am!" her niece announced, then smiled brightly. "I'll go on them with you Aunt Mia."

"Thanks, Sweetheart."

"If you'll go on Splash Mountain," the girl replied.

"Does that one get you wet?" Mia asked.

"Mia," Letty laughed. "It has 'Splash' in the name."

"And," the ten-year-old continued. "You have to sit up front with me."

"That means you'll get _really_ wet," Letty supplied.

"Don't think you're sitting that one out, Letty," Mia muttered.

"Please," she rolled her eyes with a laugh. "I'm not afraid of getting water in my hair."

"Oh look!" Vince interrupted. "Star Tours! Oh! Mom can I build a lightsaber?"

He ran ahead, his cousin charging after him excitedly. Brian looked back towards Dom. "Good thing for the Rio job huh? This place is going to cost us some money."

Dom laughed. "Chill out, O'Connor. It's worth it."

They followed after their children's laughter into the shop where Mia supervised and got wrangled into helping to assemble a light-up sword. Dom bought Brian a Yoda hat complete with green pointy ears and a man in a long brown robe kindly informed them about signing up for a 'Jedi-training' class.

The morning was spent on various futuristic rides and a trip around a track in a car that their youngest member complained 'didn't go fast enough'. They took her on Space Mountain and she insisted on riding it twice more before hunger forced them to seek out a place to have lunch.

They ate burgers overlooking the water as the kids battled with their lightsabers and debated on which part of the park to visit next.

Mia smiled over at them. "You guys having fun?"

"Yeah!" they chorused.

"It's awesome Aunt Mia," her niece said. "Thanks everyone for taking us."

Dom reached over to ruffle her hair. "We're just glad you're having fun, baby girl."

"I am. I like the rollercoasters the best. They go fast!"

"They sure do," Letty agreed with a laugh. "Of course that's why you like them."

"I got fuel in my blood, Mami," she said seriously.

"Where'd you hear that?" Dom asked her.

"Uncle Brian told me, but I know it's true. I'm like you and Mami. That's why things don't scare me easily and I love cars and I love to go fast."

"Yeah, mija," Letty said, wrapping her arm around her. "That's right."

"But I'm different too. I'm me. I got you guys for parents. I got Uncle Brian and Aunt Mia and Vince. I got to grow up around cars but I also got to go to cool places like Mexico. And I like school so in that way I'm kind of like Aunt Mia, even though I sometimes get into fights. And sometimes I do things I don't like to do, but no one else has parents that are cool like you guys. And you still do normal Mom and Dad stuff like take us to Disney Land."

"That was quite the speech there," Dom said, smiling at her.

"Yeah well… don't go getting all mushy on me, Dad," she told him, standing up. "Let's go on the Matterhorn next."

"Another rollercoaster?" Mia asked, grabbing their tray to throw away. "Can't we do something tame after lunch? Like 'It's a Small World'?"

"No way in hell am I going on that," Letty said, then started laughing as Mia began singing the song right in her ear. "You're terrible!"

"You guys are embarrassing," Vince complained.

"What do you know," Dom said. "Apparently we can act like normal Moms and Dads."

"The horror," Letty deadpanned.

They followed their kids off to the next adventure, all of them feeling a hell of a lot more 'normal' then they had before. But admittedly, it could be fun.


	49. A Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena arrives while Dom is out and speaks with pregnant Letty.

Letty had been home alone on the Saturday afternoon when the doorbell rang.

Roman had done something stupid enough to get his brand new car stuck in a ditch off the side of the highway, so Dom had taken the tow truck from the shop to go help him out. She'd remained home because she wouldn't have been any help in her current condition, 6 months pregnant, and he didn't think it would take very long to get it sorted out.

So he'd rolled his eyes at the annoyance of having to spend part of his Saturday pulling a car out of a ditch, kissed her and taken off.

He'd barely been gone 10 minutes when the doorbell rang and Letty sighed, muting the television as she pushed herself slowly to her feet. She was willing to bet it was some neighborhood kid selling cookies or something. Or one of those groups that went around now and then asking for donations. Or someone trying to sell them lawn service or siding or one of another million things.

Who it actually was had been the last person she expected to see on her doorstep.

Letty opened the door to stare through the screen at Elena, who was staring back at her with an equally stunned expression.

The blonde woman was dressed in her uniform, tan in color with her badge around her neck and her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Letty's eyes slid over her, landing on said badge, then lifted back to Elena's face.

"Let me guess," she said. "You're here on official business?"

"I… sort of," Elena stumbled. "We were going to ask for your help but I… do you mind if I come in?"

Letty held open the screen door. "Dom isn't here right now," she told her.

Elena stepped in, looking around the rather tidily kept house, curiosity in her eyes. Then she blushed slightly, looking towards Letty. Her gaze fell on her rounded belly.

"Probably for the best he is not here. I'm not sure it's a good idea to offer him this job right now."

Letty smiled tightly, turning away to head into the kitchen. "Well I sure as hell wouldn't be involved, and I'll be blunt. I'd rather he not go either."

"Of course," Elena agreed. "You have more important things to consider now."

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Water is fine, thank you," Elena said, then took a seat at the table.

Letty got them each a glass then sat across from her. "What's this job about anyway?"

"It's not so important," Elena replied. "We have alternative ways to take them out. We will just have to do our job ourselves."

"You know we'd help if…"

"I understand," Elena smiled. "Why explain? You have a family to worry about now."

"Brian had a family when he came after me with Dom," Letty said.

"That was different," Elena shook her head. "Very personal to all of them. I know that… we don't know each other. But I feel like I know you. Because they all loved you very much. You were always a presence in their lives."

"Don't you resent me?" Letty asked, raising a brow. "Seemed like you had a pretty good set up before I turned up alive again."

"I suppose that you could say a part of me was disappointed," she admitted. "But you have to understand that it was very clear Dom was not happy. Not really. He was trying to get there… and perhaps eventually. But in the years I knew him, he was not."

Letty shifted in her seat, rubbing a hand over her belly idly, feeling the way the baby kicked against her. She was quiet for a moment. She didn't really think she and Elena would ever be friends. There was far too much awkwardness between them. But there could at least be respect.

"Must have been frustrating," she muttered.

Elena smiled. "Not more frustrating than what you went through. No memory… all alone with people who didn't care about you?" She shook her head. "Don't you resent me? While that was happening to you I was living quite the nice life with your boyfriend." She winced. "Husband now."

Letty stared over at her, leaning back in her chair. "Sure… I guess I did a little."

Elena nodded, looking at the glass of water in front of her.

"But…" Letty continued. "Well, I'm going to be blunt because that's just my way. You never worried me, Elena."

"What do you mean?"

"You seem nice… and I'm sure it was better for Dom to have you around than to be alone. But even if you were dumb enough to think you might be able to get him back you wouldn't stand a chance."

Elena looked momentarily startled, then frowned slightly, picking up her glass to take a sip. "I hope you're not thinking that's why I came here…"

"No. Because you never seemed like a dumb woman to me," Letty replied. "Though maybe a little naïve…"

"Why would you say that?" Elena asked.

"You were a clean cop working in the barrios in Brazil," Letty said, then smiled at the other woman's surprise. "Do you think Dom wouldn't have told me about you?"

"I didn't think you'd want to know…"

"It's been important to our relationship moving forward that we be honest with each other," Letty answered. "What really made me curious was why… if you really thought you became a cop to make a difference, you ran away with a man who was basically a criminal?"

Elena stared at her, mouth open for a moment. She closed it slowly. "Perhaps I was naïve… and lonely."

Letty looked at her in surprise. "You love him." She laughed in disbelief. "You actually fell in love with him."

Elena pressed her lips together and sighed. "He didn't love me," she replied. "And I knew that. As you say… I am not stupid. But… I was naïve. I thought…"

"That he would eventually?" Letty finished for her. "Only then it turned out I wasn't actually dead."

Elena nodded. "And of course, I never even stood a chance against your ghost. So I knew that it was over."

Letty looked at her evenly. "I almost feel sorry for you. But I think you're being stupid right now. You really need to let go. Even if I had really been dead, whatever Dom would have felt for you… it probably wouldn't have been what you deserved." She stood up slowly. "And right now the only thing he's left feeling for you is guilt."

"I don't want that," Elena said, standing as well.

"So I guess you'd better figure out a way to be happy with what you have," Letty told her.

"You're right," Elena agreed. "I think I am getting there. I just needed to… close a door, I suppose." She looked at the other woman. "Thank you for being honest with me. I respect that."

"Well, that's one thing I can offer," Letty agreed, walking back towards the door with her. "Whatever you do with yourself, I wish you luck."

Elena smiled. "Thank you. I think that what I need to do is go back home and make the difference I set out to make. I don't think we'll be seeing each other again."

Letty's expression was one of wordless agreement. There was nothing to be jealous of Elena over. But that didn't mean she wanted to be friends with her. She was sure she'd be happy with never seeing her again. She watched her walk across the lawn to her car, get in and drive away. Sighing she leaned against the door jamb for a long moment before stepping back to shut the door.

She was glad for a dozen reasons that Dom hadn't been here. Not only because she wasn't up on the idea of him running off to work with Elena, especially because she wouldn't be there. But also because seeing Elena would have just made him feel guilty all over again. In a way he had used the Brazilian woman to ease his loneliness. Letty couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever realized Elena had been in love with him.

Frowning she went back into the kitchen, dumping both glasses of water into the sink before sticking them into the dishwasher. She would kill for a beer right now. Instead she made herself a bowl of ice cream and was just sitting down on the couch with it when she heard the rumble of the Charger's engine.

When Dom came inside she could see that he was covered in dust and dirt. Apparently it had been a bit messy to liberate Roman's car from whatever ditch he'd gotten himself stuck in. She eyed him, eating a scoop of her ice cream.

"You need a shower."

He laughed. "No kidding."

He crossed to kiss her hello and she let him, then pulled back, an eyebrow raised. "So… Elena paid a visit while you were out."

He stared at her in surprise. "What?" He looked around. "Where did you hide the body?"

"Very funny," she deadpanned. "She walked out the door the same way she walked in. Totally unharmed."

"What the hell did she want..?"

"She came by to tell me about your secret love-child," Letty told him seriously, then laughed at the horrified expression on his face. "No. She came by to ask for help on a case. But she withdrew her request the minute she saw me."

His gaze dropped to her belly and he smiled. "Good. Because I wouldn't have done it."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Really," he confirmed, sitting beside her on the couch. "I have a much more important job now," he told her, rubbing her belly.

She smirked at him. "Damn straight, Papa."


	50. A Most Fun Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the mothers are away the children will play (and misbehave).

It was the first time that Aunt Mia took Mami for a "girls' night out" that she could remember. Of course, she was only three and she couldn't remember lots, but she knew Mami always combed her hair after her bath, and tucked her into bed. Sometimes Mami would tell her a story, or sometimes Papi would. But Mami was always there. And if Mami _wasn't_ there, then Aunt Mia usually was.

But not tonight. Tonight it was her and Papi. Well, and Uncle Brian and Vince…

Mami got dressed up prettier than when she was working. She wore shoes with pointy heels and her red-painted toenails peeked out from the front.

She clambered onto the big bed in Mami and Papi's room and watched Mami put on her jewelry. She wore layers of pretty bracelets around her wrists that jingled together when she moved her arms. Papi came out of the shower with a towel around his waist, wrapped his arms around Mami and kissed her. He asked her if she really wanted to go out with Mia when they could have more fun at home.

Mami only laughed and pushed him away. "Your daughter is in the room, you know."

Papi turned and saw her sitting on the bed, then winked at her. "Hey baby girl. We going to have fun tonight with Uncle Brian and Vince?"

She giggled. "Mowe fun than Mami!" she announced, then launched herself off the bed and ran out of the room.

Mami had left by the time Uncle Brian's car pulled into the driveway. Vince raced him inside because he burst through the back door and slid on his stomach across the kitchen floor.

"Beat you!" he announced, as Uncle Brian appeared at the doorway with a big paper bag.

She giggled from the doorway. "V!"

Vince scrambled to his feet and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up. "Look how strong I am!" he told her.

She squealed, wiggling her feet until they fell over in a tangle of limbs, laughing hysterically. Papi came into the room and looked down at them, before looking over at Uncle Brian.

"I hoped you packed tranquilizers in that bag," he said.

"Just dinner," Uncle Brian said with a grin, setting the bag on the counter top. "I thought it would be easier if we didn't have to cook."

"Good thinking," Papi agreed.

She and Vince wrestled to try and get to their feet first, rolling around on the linoleum.

"I'm hungry!" she announced as she got to her feet, clutching at Papi's pant leg.

He picked her up, tweaking her nose and she giggled. He carried her to the cupboard and got out some plates. She reached out to grab her green Hulk cup and caught it between her teeth, growling. Papi laughed.

"What are you the Hulk now?"

"Don't make me angwy, Papi," she mumbled around the plastic.

He set her down on her chair and put one of the plates in front of her. She dropped her cup onto the table and reached for the plate.

"No food," she told him.

"Be patient, Monster," Uncle Brian laughed, unwrapping something in shiny foil.

It smelled like chorizo and salsa and her stomach growled as she watched him bring food over to put on her and Vince's plates.

"Tacos!" she cheered. "Papi, Papi hot sauce pwease!"

He got the bottle from the fridge. "Only a little bit," he warned her.

Uncle Brian sat down next to Vince, chuckling. "Is there anything she doesn't eat?"

"Not really," Papi replied, pouring water for her and Vince before he sat down to eat as well.

She ate 4 tacos, and only one of them was _super, duper_ spicy. Probably because Papi took away the hot sauce and put it on for her after she poured lots on the first one.

Vince laughed and said her face turned pink and she said that was because she was turning into the Hulk.

"What kind of Hulk turns pink!?" he demanded.

"The girl Hulk!"

After dinner she chased him into the living room and they picked out a movie together from her collection. They agreed on Cars 2 and Vince put in the DVD while she tugged all the cushions off the couch.

They built a fortress together with the cushions and the blanket from the back of Papi's chair and stretched on their bellies inside it, watching the movie through the open front. Uncle Brian and Papi were in the kitchen talking, probably with some beers. They liked beers, even though she drank some once and she thought it was gross.

Halfway through the movie she started to get squirmy, poking and prodding at Vince. He giggled, rolling over to tickle her till she squealed and kicked out her feet. The fortress collapsed on top of them, burying them beneath pillows and blankets.

They dug their way out, grinning at each other.

"I want ice cream!" Vince announced.

"Yeah!" she agreed, enthusiastic. They ran to the kitchen to make their demands.

"Do you have ice cream?" Uncle Brian asked.

"Knowing Letty? Probably," Papi said with a laugh and went to look in the freezer. He pulled out a carton. "I hope you kids are good with chocolate."

"Chocolate!" she cheered and trailed after her father as he fixed them each a bowl.

"Can we eat it and watch the movie?" Vince asked hopefully.

Papi sighed. "Only if you're careful," he relented.

They hurried into the living room, climbed atop their collapsed fort and ate their ice cream. She didn't spill any, but she got lots of sticky chocolate on her face. After the movie ended Papi and Uncle Brian came in and roused them from their pile. Uncle Brian took the bowls into the kitchen while she and Vince helped Papi put the couch back together.

"Upstairs you two," he said. "Time to get ready for bed."

"I'm not tiwed…"" she moaned, dragging her feet.

"Race you!" Vince said, darting for the stairs.

Gasping, she ran after him, jumping on his back when they reached the top to tackle him to the floor. He groaned and grabbed her leg, tickling her foot. She squeaked and laughed, scrambling away. Vince's Avengers backpack was in her room and he pulled out his Spiderman PJs as she tugged open her dresser drawer. She picked out her Super girl PJs that Aunt Mia had bought her and wiggled into them before scampering into the bathroom.

Papi wiped her face off and helped her brush her teeth. He forgot to comb her hair, but he wasn't good at combing hair so she didn't remind him. After she and Vince were all ready for bed they crowded together under her Toy Story sheets and demanded a story.

Uncle Brian read them a story about a boy who built his own racecar out of a cardboard box and raced it down a big hill. She thought it sounded like fun and she wanted to make her own. She would paint it red and put a three on the side. That was because that was how old she was.

Papi and Uncle Brian turned out the lights and closed the door, bidding them goodnight.

She was quiet for a moment, staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you tired?" Vince's voice whispered beside her.

She shook her head.

"Me neither," he said. "Let's play with your cars."

They slipped out of bed and emptied the huge plastic bin full of hot wheels. They lined them all up and drove them around her map rug. They raced them, crashed them, lost some under the bed which they crawled underneath to rescue, giggling quietly.

They dug her Buzz Lightyear flashlight out of her toy box and used it to look at picture books. Vince read some of them to her and she listened, sprawled out on her belly on the floor.

They crawled back onto the bed and had a pillow fight, till feather scattered around the room and stuck in their hair.

She hauled her box of stuffed animals out of her closet and they played Godzilla, building a town with Legos that the giant stuffed creatures smashed. Then they pretended to be Godzillas, stomping around and laughing and knocking over the constructed buildings. They fought like Godzilla and King Kong, roaring and wrestling and kicking little cars and pieces of Lego across the floor.

That was when the door swung open suddenly, casting a square of bright light into the room that had them both blinking owlishly.

"What are you two doing?"

"Mami!" she squeaked, launching across the room to hug her mother, who was standing in the hallway with Aunt Mia behind her.

"Hi Mom!" Vince said, grinning widely.

"Vincent Jesse," Aunt Mia scolded. "It is way past your bedtime."

"We weren't tired," he moped.

Mami picked her up and carried her back into her bedroom, looking around. "This place is a wreck!" She sighed and shook her head. "Into bed you two," she ordered. "We'll clean up in the morning."

"But I'm not-" her protest was interrupted by a yawn.

"Sure you're not," Mami said, laughing softly as she set her down on her bed.

Vince climbed into the bed next to her and Mami tucked them in. Aunt Mia came over to smooth their hair gently, kiss them and hum a little song. Her eyes felt heavy. She knew that song. Papi said it was grandma's favorite song.

"Sweet dreams, little monsters," Mami said softly.

She smiled to herself and closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around her cousin and drifted off into sleep so suddenly, exhaustion pulling a shroud around her.

It had been the most fun day. But maybe she was a _little_ tired.


	51. A Crime

Senior year was shaping up to be the most fun she’d had in high school. She had the least amount of classes she’d ever had, thanks to finishing a lot of her requirements in earlier years and a lack of desire to load her schedule with electives. So she didn’t have a lot of homework, which was nice. And she only had to work Tuesday and Thursday after school at the garage, which meant she was free to go out on the weekends. She took advantage of that, of course.

Not that she didn’t like working at the garage, but she also liked having free time for other things. Especially once she’d been able to drive. There was a freedom in that which she’d found thrilling from the first minute she put her foot on the gas pedal.

Which was probably why she often found herself at a street race on a Friday night. And the Toretto blood was probably the reason why her cousin Vince, despite being a responsible college student now, was at the race with her tonight.

She first recognized his car when she pulled up at the meet-up taking place in the abandoned lot down in the warehouse district of the city.

A stone’s throw from the docks, the old buildings were quiet after dark, bay doors closed and locked, no trucks there loading or unloading cargo. Rather now the lot was crammed full of tricked-out cars, one of which belonged to Vince O’Connor. 

An orange and black Acura NSX, which she knew he’d saved for since he was a kid, and bought from some ad he’d seen in the paper. It was a pretty car, she couldn’t deny. But it was all curves, and didn’t have the kick of muscle, as far as she was concerned. Sure he could outrun her if they raced in circles, but this wasn’t no race around the Nardo Ring. 

She grinned to herself at the thought as she pulled up alongside him, idling in her red Shelby. He was leaning against the hood of his car, surrounded by girls, of course. With his father’s blonde surfer-boy looks and Aunt Mia’s dark eyes. 

She rolled down her window, leaning one arm against the side of her car.

“You might have to look elsewhere ladies. My cousin here likes his girls to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation.”

They frowned at her, but Vince only laughed which had them departing in quite the huff. He shook his head at her as she turned off her car and climbed out. She grinned and punched him in the arm. 

“Don’t make that face when I just saved your ass. I had class with one of those girls. She had the personality of a wet paper bag.”

“I noticed. But it wasn’t her personality I was looking at.”

She made a face. “Don’t be a pig, Vincent. You’re better than that.”

“Hey, remember,” he told her with a grin. “I’m a Toretto too.”

“Let’s leave my Dad’s former manwhore tendencies out of this conversation…” she said drily. “Are you racing tonight?”

“Was thinking about it.” He nodded. “You think you can handle going up against me?”

She scoffed. “Please, you’ll be eating my dust in your little import.”

“You think so? I want to see some money on that statement little girl,” he teased.

“Don’t call me a little girl, V. I can kick your ass just like when we were kids.”

“You and I seem to remember a different childhood…” he mumbled, ruffling her hair.

She ducked away from him with a laugh. “Maybe I punched you so hard I knocked something loose.”

Vince wrapped his arm around her playfully and she pinched him in the side before they walked over towards where the race was being arranged.

The guy in charge, a tall dark-skinned guy named Trey who they knew from other races, grinned when they approached.

“Oh look who it is. I hope the rest of ya’ll are ready for a challenge,” Trey said, holding out his hands. “These two never lose a race.”

“They can’t both win,” someone commented from the crowd.

“Sure they can…. It’s called a tie,” someone else replied and laughter followed.

“It’s not a tie if they both lose,” someone else replied before stepping forward to pass Trey a stack of folded bills. A young Korean girl wearing red skinny jeans and a ripped up Rolling Stones t-shirt. 

“She’s cute,” Vince muttered against his cousin’s ear and she elbowed him with a roll of her eyes. He laughed. “Think she’ll go out with me after I beat both your asses in a race?”

“You’ll never find out, because I am going to win,” she said airily, stepping forward to hand over her own money. 

Vince passed his over as well, and after some jeering from the crowd they were joined by their fourth, some guy she’d never seen before who was sporting an intense fro and a cocky attitude.

Rolling her eyes she went back to her car and soon they were all driving to the location they’d agreed upon. A stretch of road not far from their location, two lanes in either direction that would normally be busy during the day or peak business hours when people were working. Now they were all but deserted, making it easier to block them off for the race. She drove up to where they were spraying out the starting line and glanced to her left. The Korean girl was beside her, and Vince beyond her.

Trey called for their attention and she turned back to the road as the engines revved. When Trey signaled they were off like a shot, launching forward with the smell of exhaust and burning rubber, the squeal of tires against the pavement.

She narrowed her focus, hitting the clutch as she shifted up. She could see Vince was inching up alongside her and grit her teeth, shifting up again. She was not about to lose to her cousin. She hated when she lost to him.

Not that it happened often. 

All the sudden she heard sirens and she blinked, catching the flashing red and blue lights as a pair of cop cars jetted out of a side street ahead of them. Cursing she swerved to avoid them, narrowly missing hitting Vince. They exchanged glances and turned down a road off the route. One of the cops pursued.

They burst out of the side road and onto the stretch of road that ran along the docks. Some traffic was on this street and a car laid on the horn, veering out of the way to avoid hitting them. Cursing she straightened out and blasted through a red light, Vince and the cop hot on her heels. She turned down another side road, mapping out the city in her head. She came to the end of the road fast, only to catch glimpse of flashing sirens ahead of her, blocking the road. Cursing she wrenched her wheel and hit the brakes, sliding to a stop before she could hit the police car. Vince rolled up behind her slowly. 

She groaned, resting her head against her steering wheel. She was going to be in so much trouble…

0000

The process of being ‘booked’ was enlightening in a way that made her certain she never wanted to repeat it. Especially once the officer informed her that because she was under age her parents had been notified and were coming down to the station. She had almost begged the police to let her stay overnight rather than face her parents.

Lucky Vince was old enough to avoid this embarrassment, it seemed at first.

She was sitting in a chair near the wall, Vince next to her. The cop had written him lots and lots of tickets, and given him a pink slip for an impound lot where his car was. She was expecting much of the same treatment, to be honest. Except she got to have her parents around when this happened, which was an extra thrill.

Luckily, since this was the first time Vince had been caught racing, the worst thing he had to deal with was spending time overnight in a holding cell. Maybe a point on his license, once he went through traffic court.

She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t believe she’d gotten caught. That was the cardinal rule in her house. Don’t get caught.

Vince elbowed her and she looked up to see her parents walking through the door. She blanched. Her father did not look pleased, while her mother looked carefully neutral. Which might mean she could count on her support. Or it might mean she would get an earful from both of them.

She hunched down in her seat, watching as the officer walked over to greet them. His partner motioned for her to get to her feet and the two officers led them all to a small room.

To her it looked like an interrogation room you saw on TV, but they called it an interview room. There were chairs around a long table. She sat on one side, her parents settling on either side of her. Both of them looked vaguely uncomfortable and she had to guess they didn’t like being here anymore than she did. One of the officers tossed down a stack of papers on the table, then sat across from them.

“Do you know the number of laws you violated tonight young lady?” he asked.

“A lot?” she sneered, receiving and elbow from her mother for the attitude. “Sir.”

“Reckless driving, running a stop light, running from police, speeding… just to name a few.”

She shrugged slightly, silent. “Sorry.” She knew she didn’t sound like it at all.

“Officer,” her father interrupted. “What are the charges?”

“Her car’s been impounded,” the other man said, passing over a pink paper which her father took, eyeing the number at the bottom silently. “And there are a number of traffic penalties for which she will be fined and asked to appear at court.”

“Anything else?” her mother asked.

“We could take away her license…” the seated officer began, making her feel sick to her stomach. “But since this is her first offense… we’ll let the judge decide on that. It’s likely she’ll end up with at least one point on her license.”

She groaned, dropping her head. That would make her insurance rates go up again, and combined with the cost to get her car out of impound… she was going to working extra shifts at the garage for the rest of her natural life.

“But we can take her home?” her father finished, already standing up.

“You can,” the standing officer responded. “You’ll receive a summons in the mail for your court date. There’s no need for a lawyer but you are free to obtain one if you wish.”

“Great,” she muttered under her breath, earning another elbow from her mother.

“Then we’ll be going. Do we have to sign anything?” Letty asked, standing and grabbing her daughter by the arm to tug her to her feet.

“Yeah, see the girl out front on your way out,” one of the men told them.

Her parents were silent as they led her back down the hallway to the waiting area. She could see that Vince was still there, being processed. Only now he was also being lectured by Aunt Mia. She couldn’t help but smirk to herself. At least she didn’t have to suffer alone.

Once she was signed out she went out to her dad’s car, getting into the back seat. They pulled out of the parking lot and were halfway home before either of them spoke. Of course it was her father.

“What did I tell you?” he demanded.

“Don’t get caught…” she said glumly. “But Papi they ambushed us!”

“That just means you had someone there who can’t keep their damn mouth shut,” her mother told her. “You should only race with people you know.”

“Well… there was this new guy.”

“Do you know how much it’s going to cost to get your car out?” her father asked. “And you can’t afford points on your license. You don’t want to lose it, do you?”

“No,” she groaned, flopping back on the seat. 

“You should probably ease up on the racing for a little while,” her mother offered. 

“I guess so,” she sighed. “Are you guys pissed?”

“Yes,” her father answered. “Do you think we like getting called to go down to the police station on a Friday night?”

“No…”

“Don’t think just because we used to race when we were your age that we’re cool with picking you up from jail,” he continued. “You’re better than that.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Why do I have to do better than you guys did…?”

“Because you have the opportunity to,” her mother replied, raising a brow. “Just be smart, mija. Big races like that gain too much attention.”

She bit down on her lower lip slightly. “I guess you’re right.”

“We are right,” her father said.

“You know what the worst part of it is though…?” she asked.

“What?” Her mother glanced at her over the back of the seat.

“I didn’t get to show Vince I’m faster than he is.”


	52. A Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so… yeah this ended up longer than intended when I started it. The idea was based off of the 'thrill' of traveling with small children. But once I did some research I realized there's no way any sane people would make a flight this long with hyperactive children. Unless… they had a private plane at their disposal. Oh, how handy. Okay so it's kind of cute and amusing and pretty light of a chapter. So enjoy it!

The nice thing about using Roman's plane to travel to Brazil was that there were a lot of nice things. For one, they didn't have to pay for tickets; just contribute to fuel costs, landing and hangar fees. For another thing they didn't have to crowd into small seats with dozens of other people, or worry about the kids wandering around the cabin. They didn't have to eat horrible airliner food or pay for their alcohol of choice.

The minor drawback was that because it was Roman's plane… they couldn't exactly protest to him inviting along his own female guest on their trip. So instead they'd agreed to meet up at the local airport in the morning. The flight from LA to Sao Paolo was long, over fourteen hours, so of course they were packed accordingly. As parents with small children quickly learn, distraction is the key.

Seven-year-old Vince was excited by the idea of a trip on a big plane, because he'd never been on one before. His four-year-old cousin had been less than thrilled at the initial prospect. She'd wanted to drive in Papi's fast car instead. She seemed convinced it would get them there faster, no matter how many times her parents told her otherwise.

When the group arrived at the airport, Roman greeted them along with his 'guest', a curvy blonde in a tiny red dress and heels that did not look like advisable clothing for a long flight. Mia and Letty exchanged glances, both dressed in jeans and tank tops under zip-up hoodies and carrying a couple of carry-on items. Dom followed with his daughter in his arms. She was still sleepy, due to the early hour, and wearing her super girl pajamas. She yawned, rubbing a little fist against her eyes and snuggled into her father's arms. Brian was carrying the suitcases with Vince trailing along in front of him, also still in his pajamas – GI Joes. He carried a fluffy blue creature that at second glance was the Cookie Monster.

Tej followed with some more luggage and shook his head. "Damn you guys, I ain't never having kids."

Brian laughed. "It's not so bad. And believe me, it's better to be over-prepared when you have to distract them for fourteen hours."

"That's sooooooo long," Vince whined as he trailed behind his mother.

Mia reached down to take him by the hand and help him board the plane. "It won't be so bad. Maybe you can take a little nap and when you get up we'll have some breakfast and then you can play with your cousin."

Vince looked thoughtful. "Okay," he agreed, then paused at the top of the steps to look at the inside of the plane.

His eyes got as big as saucers. Mia released his hand and he ran off to explore as she opened up her bag to get settled in. The others filed aboard and bags were stowed. Tej set himself up front with a couple of laptops, his headphones in. Letty and Mia settled on the couch where Mia beckoned Vince to stretch out next to her, resting his head on her lap. Brian and Dom took the seats across from them, facing one another. Dom shifted his sleepy daughter to sit in his lap, her head pressed against his stomach. She groaned grumpily and turned her face.

"Just like Letty in the morning," Dom commented to Brian.

"I heard that," his wife said, fishing a magazine out of the bag sitting beside her.

Rome went up front to talk to the pilot, then settled in one of the remaining two chairs across from his flavor of the week, whose name no one had bothered to remember.

Once everyone was settled it didn't take long for the plane to get in the air, and the kids drifted off to sleep quickly enough. Most of the adults even followed suit and the plane coasted quietly through the sky for a good two hours.

Until the youngest member of the family stirred awake. She stretched out, rubbing at her eyes as she sat back in Papi's lap. She yawned and looked around. She could see Uncle Brian asleep across from her and then on the other side Mami and Aunt Mia were leaning against each other with their eyes closed. She looked up at her father, who was slowly blinking awake, gazing down at her with dark, sleepy eyes.

He smiled and smoothed her hair. "Hey baby girl," he murmured.

"I'm hungry, Papi," she replied, pouting up at him.

He chuckled and set her down on her feet. "Let's see what we can find for breakfast."

He got up and walked over to the insulated bag of food that Mia had packed. Roman claimed there was a kitchen on board, but he was sure it was mostly full of champagne and strawberries. Kneeling down he unzipped it and his daughter hung onto him, watching curiously as he pulled out something wrapped in foil.

Mia had labeled it as "Kids' breakfast" with a sharpie so he unwrapped it slowly. The smell of eggs and chorizo hit his nose and his daughter gasped, reaching out with little hands.

"Yummy," she said.

Dom looked at the carefully wrapped breakfast burritos and down at his little girl, looking up at him expectantly. She was probably going to make a mess.

"Sit down right here," he told her and she scooted back on the floor by the couch, holding out her hands.

He handed her one of the burritos.

"Hot sauce, Papi?"

"We don't have any. Just eat it like that."

"Otay."

Dom looked up to see Vince had stirred awake and was rubbing his eyes. He slid off the couch to sit next to his cousin.

"I'm hungry too, Uncle Dom."

He passed over the other burrito to his nephew as Mia got up to head to the kitchen. She brought back some milk for the kids, which they thanked her for as they ate. Dom sat beside her on the couch, stretching out his legs and she smiled, reaching over to pat his arm.

"It will be nice to see Rosa and Nico again," she commented.

"Yeah. Though the kid has gotta be what… 9 years old now?"

"Mmm hmm. He was two when Vince was born." Mia smiled, looking down at the kids.

As expected, there were eggs on the floor. Mia moved to clean them up as the children shoved the last of their food in their mouths.

"Let's play a game," Vince said.

He tossed Cookie Monster onto his father's lap, where he was still sleeping in his seat, then rummaged through his Avenger's backpack. He pulled out a couple of cars, passing her the red one.

"We racing?" she asked, sprawling on her stomach with her butt in the air as she drove the little car in circles.

"Yeah. The starting line is by Uncle Dom's foot," he told her and they moved back to kneel side-by-side in the aisle.

"It's so nice that Roman has this plane and we can all travel on it," Mia commented. "Can you imagine trying to wrangle these kids for 14 hours on a commercial flight?"

"I have nightmares about it," Letty mumbled from her other side, causing Dom to laugh.

"The only reason we considered traveling to Brazil is because of Rome's plane, really," Dom agreed. "Her first trip on a regular airplane is going to be a hell of a lot shorter."

"And she'll be a teenager," Letty added.

Mia laughed too. "That bad?"

They looked up at the sound of a squealing child as the littlest Toretto tackled her cousin in the aisle. The two kids rolled around, bumping into Tej's feet and rousing everyone else with their ruckus. Brian rubbed a hand over his face then stared down at the Cookie Monster in his lap.

"We in Sao Paolo yet?" he asked.

"Wishful thinking," Dom replied. "We're about three hours out of LA."

"Damn…" Brian muttered. "I wanted to sleep longer."

"I was just hoping the kids would," Mia replied, glancing up the aisle to make sure they were behaving.

Vince was still driving his car up and down the aisle but his cousin was standing up, holding her car in her hand as she talked to Roman. Her little hands curled around the arm of his seat and she pressed up on her toes.

"Uncle Roman?" she asked, looking up at him.

"What is it little girl?" he ruffled her dark hair.

"Is that lady a skank?" she asked.

Roman stared at her in shock, the blonde made an indignant sort of sound.

Dom groaned, dropping his head and Mia looked accusingly at Letty.

"Did you teach her that?"

"Not on purpose!" Letty shrugged. "It's a legitimate question…" she muttered more quietly.

"Letty!" Mia hissed.

Dom was already on damage control, walking up to the front to pick up his daughter.

"Hey," he told her. "That's not a nice word. You don't say that to people."

She looked abashed. "Sorry, Uncle Roman."

"Apologize to uh…. Sorry what's your name?" Dom asked the woman.

"It's Maggie," she replied. "And don't worry about it. Kids, you know?"

"You have any?" Dom asked.

"A little girl of my own," she agreed. "She lives with my ex."

"You have a kid?" Roman asked.

Dom quietly slipped away from this new situation, rolling his eyes heavenward briefly. He managed to settle his daughter back on the couch with the lure of watching a movie on the inset TV screen. Vince scurried over to join them and the two kids sprawled on the couch. Dom returned to his seat across from Brian.

"Cute stuffed animal you sleep with," he said.

Brian made a face at him. "You know I'm not cuddling Cookie Monsters when I sleep."

"Hey now, O'Connor. I don't need to know certain things about my sister," Dom warned.

"For god's sake Dom," Letty said from across the aisle. "They have a kid."

"He should know," Mia said. "He was right outside when we conceived him."

"What?" Letty started to laugh. "Wasn't that awkward?"

"I went for a drive," Dom replied, making a face at his sister. "I had a good enough idea of what you two were up to in the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" Letty smirked. "And here I thought you only knew how to do it in a bedroom or a car."

"Just because I don't want to get caught doesn't mean I have a vanilla sex-life," Mia told her.

Vince turned his head to stare at them. "Can you stop talking about weird stuff? We're watching a movie here!"

The adults laughed. Brian logged onto the tablet Tej had hooked him up with and showed Dom the new upgrades he was making to his car. Mia read her horoscope to Letty who rolled her eyes and said it was a pile of vague BS. She read her own magazine about cars while Mia interrupted her to ask her opinion on nail polish colors and fabric selections for the kitchen curtains.

When the movie stopped the kids looked expectantly towards their parents.

"We're bored," Vince announced.

"Yeah," his cousin echoed.

"Do you want to watch another movie?" Mia asked.

"No," her niece groaned in reply. "I want to play outside."

"You can't play outside," Letty told her. "We're flying."

The four-year-old frowned and clambered up into her father's lap, sliding open the window shutter and pressing her face against the glass. She gasped.

"Papi is that the ground?" she squeaked, pointing.

"It's way down there," he told her.

"That's too high," she complained. "I want to be in the car…"

"The car is back home."

She groaned. "This plane goes too slow."

Dom laughed. "It goes faster than the car."

"No," she shook her head. "Look it's slow." She pointed out at the sky.

"But we're high up so we can move faster." He set her down on his lap gently. "If we took the car it would take us more than a week to drive to Brazil."

Her eyes went wide. "Papi I want to stay at home!"

"You're going to have fun in Brazil. You'll get to meet Rosa and play with Nico."

"How long?" she asked, peering up at him.

"Uh…" he reconsidered the truth. "A little while yet. Why don't you play with Vince for now?"

"Will you play too, Papi?"

"What do you want to play?" he asked.

"Hide n' seek."

Dom looked around the cabin of the plane dubiously. There weren't many hiding places. "Fine. You two hide then."

The little girl scooted off his lap, grabbing Vince by the hand with a giggle. Dom pressed a hand over his eyes and started to count loudly. When he reached twenty he dropped his hand and looked over to see Brian with an amused look on his face. There was giggling from behind his seat.

"You're never going to find them," Mia commented from across the aisle.

Dom managed to take 15 minutes to locate them behind his chair, acting quite surprised when he finally found them. Then Brian took a turn counting while the kids hid.

After hide n' seek Brian got out of the chair brandishing the dreaded tickle-monster and chased the kids around the cabin while Tej turned up the audio on his computer game and Roman complained about the noise. Mia and Letty talked, tuning out the ruckus with skill borne of motherhood.

After the kids were a bit worn out and breathless from laughter, they settled down to have lunch, cold sandwiches which they ate while sprawling in the aisle with their feet up on the couch. Mia heated up an apple-filled empanada in the kitchen which they split, then they cuddled together on the couch for a nap, though Vince spent most of the hour listening to a book on tape with his headphones.

While the kids were quiet the adults ate their own lunch, popping open a bottle of Roman's champagne. Tej raised his glass to toast.

"Here's to hoping we all survive the rest of this trip."

After nap time the kids watched another movie and then Tej summoned them over to see a simple racing game they could play together on their tablets. That entertained them for over an hour, before the littlest one got antsy and ran over to scramble into her mother's lap.

"Mami I want to play on my trike."

"It's not here mija, you have to play inside games," Letty said, putting her arms around her.

"But it's boring," she complained.

"Vince is having fun," Letty told her, motioning to where her nephew was sitting in Tej's lap with his tablet, playing some sort of space battle game and laughing.

"Vince is boring," her daughter informed her.

Mia laughed softly and Letty shook her head. "Well you can't ride your tricycle what else do you want to do?"

"Go to the park."

"We can't go to the park baby we're on a plane."

"Go swimmin'."

Letty eyed the child with a raised brow. "Indoor games. Do you want to play with your action figures?"

"No," the child shook her head.

"Do you want to play with your cars?"

"Nuh uh."

"Do you want to color?"

She frowned a little, then looked thoughtful. "Will you color with me, Mami?"

"Of course." Letty reached down to get the crayons out of the bag at her side.

"Cars coloring book, Mami."

Letty smirked slightly. "Right. Definitely the Cars one."

She got it out then sat on the floor with the little girl to color. After a while Vince came to join them. Then Mia got out a book to read to them.

When the four-year-old got bored of reading she climbed into her father's lap where he was watching Top Gear on his computer. He hooked up another pair of headphones and she watched with him until dinner time.

Dinner was rice and chicken in spicy red sauce that she ate sitting in Papi's lap while she and Vince watched another movie on the TV. She fell asleep before it was over and slept all the way through to landing.

When they reached Sao Paolo it was after dark but they had cars waiting. They carried the sleeping children out to them and loaded the baggage up. When Dom got into the car and Letty was settled beside him they both let out a collective sigh.

"You know," she said softly, looking at him. "I really wish we didn't have to do that again in a couple weeks when we head home."

He laughed softly. "Well… we ain't moving to Brazil."


	53. A Big Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short, sweet, fluff

This was not a day that Dom had ever seen coming. As his daughter had grown and gotten older he'd had to deal with the reality of her having boyfriends and dating. There was certainly no way to convince her not to do something if she really wanted to, and she wasn't above lying and sneaking around if he was being ridiculous about something.

He really hadn't been too surprised when he'd thought about it. She was a hell of a lot like both him and Letty. So maybe that was why he hadn't seen this coming. And why he still couldn't really wrap his head around it two years after the announcement had been made.

His daughter was getting married.

And she was getting married today.

It wasn't that he didn't like her husband-to-be. In fact he probably couldn't have picked someone better for his only daughter to marry, if she had to marry. Ty Harris had been classmates with his daughter back at the local Junior college. He'd earned himself scholarships and gone on to study electrical engineering at UCLA. He'd graduated the year before and already had a well-paying job with a company in the LA area.

Of course, all of this would have been enough for any other parent.

But to Dom it also mattered that Ty shared his daughter's love for cars. He'd taken her to the Indie 500 the year before and would often spend a Saturday morning working at the garage with them. Letty had once asked why he wanted to spend his weekend working for free instead of sleeping in. He'd told them that he liked working on cars, and besides he wanted to spend the time with his girl.

It was little things like that which made Dom realize this guy was good for his daughter. He put her first, no matter what. He always treated her right, and he always supported her in her goals.

Still, he supposed a part of him had never thought about the idea that she would get married.

She'd moved out not long after starting college, but she'd always been at the house at least twice a week and they still all got together on the weekends. Through the years their family had grown, and sometimes there was a bigger crowd, but for the past few years his daughter had brought Ty along and Vince had brought along his girlfriend Hye-Su. Mia had started betting which couple would get engaged first, but Dom had never expected it would have been the younger two.

And yet here he was.

Standing in the carpeted hallway of the church, wearing a damn suit and wondering how the hell he'd gotten here.

Hadn't it been just yesterday he'd been bandaging scraped knees and telling bedtime stories? He could remember teaching her how to drive her first car, and dancing with her at her Quinceañera. Sure she was grown up now. But that didn't mean he wanted to give her away to someone else. No matter how much he liked the guy.

He wanted to rewind time and hold his baby girl in his arms again. To go back to a day when she wasn't thinking about boys and the most important man in her life was her Dad.

Dom looked up when the door to one of the side rooms clicked open and Letty stepped out. She smiled at him, then crossed to take his hand, squeezing it gently.

"You ready for this Papa?"

"Will it make a difference if I say no?" he asked.

She laughed softly. "I know it's not easy. But she had to grow up sooner or later." She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "We did a good job, Dom."

He sighed, leaning into her touch. "I know. But…"

"Time to let go," she said. "At least a little bit. She'll always be our girl." She chuckled, pressing a kiss against his lips. "I won't tell anyone if you cry."

"Thanks…" He smirked at her, shaking his head.

She looked beautiful, standing in front of him in a silky red ruched dress that fell to her feet, hair curled and pulled to the side. She grinned up at him, then turned when the door clicked open again. Mia came out followed by Liana – his daughter's best friend since childhood. They both wore the same dress as Letty, in slightly different styles, but the same shade of red. Mia grinned, kissing his cheek.

"You should take a minute to talk to her before we have to walk," she told him, then took Letty's hand and went to go wait near the doors.

Dom looked back towards the room they'd come from to see his daughter standing in the doorway. She smiled at him uncertainly. The wedding dress was fairly simple, as she wasn't one for ruffles or lace. Rather it was a matte white silk with a fitted bodice and sheer sleeves that came down in a v-neck and fell to her elbow. The skirts flared out at her hips, falling in a single sweep to the floor. She grinned and turned to show him the back, where the sheer v came down to meet the satin laces that went down her back. Her dark hair was pulled up away from her face and fastened with a shimmering blue flower that he knew Mia had worn at her own wedding.

"Like it, Papi?" she asked.

He smiled. "You look beautiful. It's… different though."

She grinned. "Not that different," she told him, lifting up her skirts to show him her red studded converse sneakers.

He laughed, pulling her into a hug. "That's my girl."

She hugged him back tightly, resting her head against his chest. "I'll always be your little girl, Papi."

"No matter what," he agreed softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then he drew back to look at her. "You ready to get married?"

She took in a slow breath, closing her eyes, then she opened them and nodded. "I am."

The music started up and Mia started up the aisle, followed shortly by Letty and then Liana.

As Dom and his daughter waited for their signal she glanced up at him, squeezing his arm where she was holding on.

"Were you nervous when you and Mami got married?" she whispered.

"Only that she would decide she had made a huge mistake in agreeing and call it off," he replied with a little laugh.

"What?" Her eyes widened. "Why? You guys love each other like crazy."

He smiled. "Always have, baby girl. But love isn't always easy. It's worth it, but you have to work."

She nodded slowly, turning to look down the aisle at Ty when the doors were opened for them. She smiled, and the radiance on her face chased away Dom's uncertainties. They would make it work. His daughter was happy and that was all he'd ever wanted for her.

When he put her hand in Ty's he still couldn't help the little pang in his chest. He wasn't losing his daughter. His family was growing.

He just prayed that they would wait a few years before they decided to give him grandkids. There was only so much a man could handle, after all.


	54. A Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about her learning how to drive. Enjoy!

Most parents would not be teaching their thirteen-year-old to drive. In California the earliest you could get anything (unless you were driving a tractor for farming purposes) was at age fifteen, and that was only a permit. So suffice it to say, there was really no need to be teaching their daughter how to drive just yet. At least, not practically.

But Dom and Letty had never been accused of being practical. Nor had they ever been sticklers for the rules. In fact, they had been breaking the rules for most of their lives.

Maybe that's why their daughter was so keen on breaking them as well. Their general thought was if she was going to break the rules they'd prefer she was doing it safely and with their knowledge.

And that's why Dom was sitting out on the abandoned lot in a beat up old Ford that they were fixing up at the garage in order to sell at profit later. The car had a couple things going for it. First, it was still in process of being repaired and upgraded, so it wouldn't irk him too much if his daughter put some dents into the thing. Second, it was a manual transmission and had some good pick-up in the engine. She was going to learn to drive properly.

Because she was going to want to race and he'd be damned if she had to learn stick on her own.

His daughter had ridden in the passenger side on the drive out of LA towards where the abandoned manufacturing plant sat. The building was a wreck, windows mostly broken, the chain-link fence around the perimeter sagging in spots and aged by rust. The lot itself was massive; a stretch of sun-bleached concrete where there had once been parking spaces – the lines now all worn away from dust and wind. The huge circular entry way led off the road and into the lot.

The lot stretched out around to the rear of the building where the loading zone for the trucks was. Sun-parched grass and weeds were poking stubbornly through the cracks and breaks in the concrete, withering in the harsh LA climate.

Not a soul aside from them was around.

The teenager stopped her perusal of the lot, glancing at him. Her leg was bouncing anxiously.

"So… can I drive now?" she asked.

The car was idling in park where Dom had pulled up close to the building. He turned the ignition, shutting down the engine.

"First we're going to switch seats and go over everything you do when you first get into a car, okay?"

She looked like she was going to insist that she already knew all of that, but she held her tongue and nodded agreeably. Dom held back a chuckle. An agreeable teenaged daughter was a rare thing.

"Okay," he said, unbuckling and opening the driver's side door.

His daughter was standing beside his open door by the time he straightened up. He laughed and dropped the keys into her hand before going around to the other side. He got in and buckled up, watching carefully as she did the same.

She reached down to move the seat up, testing her feet on the pedal and the clutch until she felt comfortable, raising it a bit too. Without instruction she checked the mirrors, adjusting them all.

Then she glanced at him.

"Start it?" she asked, suddenly having none of her earlier boldness.

"Well unless you want to learn how to drive for pretend…"

"Very funny, Dad," she muttered, sliding the key into the ignition.

She pressed her foot down on the clutch, her left hand tight on the top of the steering wheel as she reached over to slide the shift into neutral. Keeping her foot on the clutch she turned the key. The engine purred to life smoothly. She eased her foot off the clutch slowly.

"Okay," he said. "Now check your gauges on the dash. Make sure everything looks good."

She glanced in front of her, lashes dropping as she studied the familiar readouts. She nodded.

"Good. Got it."

Dom was familiar with this car and its feel, its sound. He'd been driving so long that he could easily pick it up with a new vehicle. But his daughter didn't have that experience behind her.

"Before we get into driving you're going to get a feel for the engine and how to get started. So I want you to press down on the clutch and shift into first gear."

She nodded, foot pressing down on the clutch as her hand closed around the stick, small thin fingers, short nails painted a silvery color that was chipping. She bit down on her lower lip.

"Now what?"

"Okay, now slowly ease your foot up off the clutch, and listen to the sound of the car. You'll hear the engine start to slow down, then you push down on the clutch again. Do that a couple times until you think you have a good feel for it."

She followed his instructions, a very serious expression on her face. Dom couldn't help but notice that she bit her lower lip the same way Letty did when she was concentrating hard. The thought made him grin to himself.

"Okay, I got it," she said, turning to him with confidence flashing in her dark eyes. "Now can I drive?"

He laughed softly. "Ease up there, Sweetheart. You'll be driving in no time."

"Like in five minutes?" she asked.

"Well unless you fuck it up," he teased.

"Dad!" she frowned at him.

"Okay, okay," Dom laughed. "You're going to ease up on the clutch slowly and you can watch your RPMs on the gauge there. Now when they start to drop you're going to press down on the accelerator. And you want to slowly accelerate as you ease your foot off the clutch. But if you release the clutch too fast you're going to stall. Then I'll laugh at you."

"Dad!" She scowled darkly. "No laughing."

She wiped her hand on the thigh of her jeans before placing it back onto the steering wheel slowly.

She started up fine; the car easing forward slowly and he showed her how to shift into second so that she could pick up speed enough to drive around a bit. Pleasantly, she concentrated on her shifting and didn't stall out.

"You feel the engine? It's going to tell you when to shift. And when you start to feel more comfortable you'll be able to let go of the clutch and press the accelerator more smoothly."

"Yeah. But I want to go faster," she said. "This is so slow."

"You learn slow. Then when you're a good driver you can be a good racer too, okay? But let's not get ahead of yourself here. You've only barely learned how to shift into second." Dom chuckled.

"Well teach me how to shift higher," she said.

"Nuh-uh. We're going to drive around a little bit. See how you do with maintaining speed and making some turns."

She grumbled but obeyed, following his instructions when he told her to turn, navigating around the lot. It was like she'd been born to sit behind the wheel of a car, and maybe she had, but Dom wasn't about to tell her that. Instead he corrected her when needed; keeping a careful eye on everything she did, reminding her to scan. He told her how to come to a stop, shifting out of gear to break, then had her accelerate again, shifting successfully back into first.

She stalled sliding into second and cursed aloud. Which was met with a raised eyebrow from Dom, and a tiny chuckle which she punched him in the arm over. He had her shift out of gear and start again; practicing starting and stopping until she shifted gears with ease, staying at the lower speeds.

They spent over an hour going through this, and Dom watched as her hand became more confident on the stick, as she relaxed back into her seat a little, her grip on the steering wheel loosening. He watched her footwork getting better.

Yeah, it should be no surprise that any child of him and Letty was a natural with a car.

"All right," he said. "Time to head home."

"What?" She frowned. "I didn't even get into third gear more than once! Weak, Dad."

He laughed softly. "You've been driving for an hour and you're already a speed addict."

"No. I've been a speed addict since I was born. I remember telling you to drive faster when I was little."

Dom sighed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Seemed some days she was still little to him, but it also seemed like she was growing up too damn fast.

"Fine. We'll see if you can kick it up to fifth. Go all the way to the end of the lot so you have some space."

She grinned and turned the wheel, driving over towards the indicated spot. Braking, she slid the car into neutral and rolled down the windows. Dom smothered a grin.

The wind whipped though her long hair as she accelerated, speeding across the sun-bleached lot, laughter on her lips. Dom shared the thrill with her, happy that he could. Pleased to see the joy on her face. He understood the pure freedom that she felt with the car engine roaring and the speed hurtling them forward.

She braked at the other end, not quite as smoothly as she could have, but the grin on her face kept him from making a comment.

"That was great!"

Dom laughed. "You learn fast. We'll practice more next weekend."

"Can I drive home?" she asked, turning a pleading gaze in his direction.

"Absolutely not. I'd get arrested. Park her and turn off the engine. Your mom is probably home from shopping with Aunt Mia."

Pouting she put the car into park and turned the key, the engine shutting off.

"Why do I have to wait so long to get my license?"

Dom held out his hand for the key, which she dropped into his palm as she undid her seatbelt

"Because that's what the law says," he told her, getting out of the passenger side.

"I want to be 15 already," she complained, going around to the other side of the car, dragging her sneakered feet.

"Don't be in such a rush to grow up, kiddo," he said, reaching over to ruffle her dark hair when they were both settled back in the car. "You're going to have the rest of your life after fifteen to drive."

"Until I get old and I can't see anymore," she said, laughing and ducking away from his hand.

"So you're planning to be blind when you're an old lady?" He chuckled. "I think you have a long time to go before that happens."

"That's true," she agreed. "You and Mami will have to get old and blind first."

"Very funny," he smirked at her. "I dare you to say that to your mother."

"She'd probably just say you're the old one."

"Ouch," Dom shook his head. "You think I'm old?"

"Well… kind of," she admitted. "But it's okay because you're still cool, Dad."

He laughed softly. "Thanks. I think." He started up the car and pulled out of the lot back onto the street. "So… you want to grab some lunch on the way home?"

"Hell yeah," she agreed. "I'm starving. I guess I was having so much fun I didn't notice." She smiled over at him. "Hey… Dad?"

"Hmm?" he glanced over at her at a red light.

"Thanks for teaching me how to drive. You really are the coolest Dad, you know that right?"

He laughed. "Well… maybe. But it's nice to hear every now and then."

"Don't let it get to your head," she snorted, then grinned at him.

"Haha. As long as you don't let this go to your head. No driving till you have your license."

She eyed him through her peripheral vision. "No promises."

Yeah… she was definitely just like him and Letty. These teenage years were bound to be fun.


	55. A First Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With baby Toretto

Sunday mornings used to be for sleeping in; lingering in bed until the desire for food or some sort of plans drove them from beneath the covers to start the day. Of course, that had all changed once they'd become parents. After all, an infant had no reason to linger in bed. Rather she woke up when she was hungry, which tended to be closer to 6 am than 10. This meant that by 8 am Letty had been up for a couple of hours, eaten breakfast and had two cups of coffee. In the morning Dom had made a breakfast of pancakes and bacon while she showered, they'd eaten together, then he had taken off for the gym. She bathed her daughter and got her dressed for the day, yawning while the baby babbled at her happily, wide awake.

At nine months old the girl was chatty in the way many babies were, babbling nonsense and sounds. She didn't seem to prefer one of her parents over the other and was a social baby at gatherings, content to have the attention of anyone and everyone. Though she preferred being mobile to being carried around and explored her world by crawling. Crawling absolutely everywhere she could get to.

It was a nice day, so Letty took her out to the yard, setting her down in the grass. Her car was in need of a wash, but she wanted to replace the windshield wipers and check the air level on her tires first. Letty supposed that she spent a lot of her time living, breathing and dreaming cars, but she loved it. Even the little mundane bits of maintenance. Her daughter had crawled off the moment she was set down, scooting across the grass in the direction of the garage. Letty intercepted her, scooping her up with one arm.

"Are you going to let Mami work or are you going to be a little troublemaker?" she asked.

The little girl giggled, patting at her face as she opened her mouth. "Muh," she replied, before trailing into an endless string of nonsense and sounds.

Resting the baby against her hip she carried her into the garage to get the new wiper blades she had had purchased a couple days before. Her daughter reached for the box and Letty allowed her to hold them as she grabbed the air pump from one of the workbenches.

The little girl shook the box, babbling wordlessly to herself, clutching it with tiny fingers.

"You going to help Mami work on her car?" Letty asked, carrying her back out to the driveway.

The baby grinned up at her, pointing towards the car with the replacement wipers. She bounced in Letty's arms, wiggling her feet. Letty set her down beside the car, reaching up to remove the old wiper blades.

The baby was entertained for a moment more by the box she held in her hands, waving it around and chewing on the corner. Then she set it down on the floor and grabbed a hold of the front of the car, hauling herself to her feet unsteadily. She leaned against the car, wobbling slightly. With one hand she reached out to grab onto Letty's pant leg, curling her fingers into the fabric.

Letty glanced down at her and smiled. "What do you want, Monster?"

The baby wrapped her arms around her leg, pressing her face against her jeans, her babbles muffled. Letty reached down to pick her up and the girl pointed at the car with one hand, curling her other around Letty's shoulder.

"That's Mami's car. You want to help?"

The little girl scrunched up her face and babbled in response, which made Letty chuckle. She reached down to pick up the package, leaning back against the hood of the car as she shifted her daughter in her arms to open it.

"You're going to make this difficult you know?" she commented. "Replacing a windshield wiper is easy but you need two hands."

The baby patted her face and Letty sighed softly, smiling a little. "Silly girl," she mumbled, pressing a kiss against her soft hair.

The little girl snuggled against her, head pillowed against her chest. Letty rubbed her back, sighing as she set down the package with the wiper blades.

"You're never clingy. What do you want mija? Hmmm?"

The baby lifted her head. "Muh-buh-eee-sooooo," she replied seriously, pointing at the car again.

"Mami can't wait till you can speak with real words," Letty answered, standing up. "Though I see you pointing at the car." She grinned then. "Can you say that? Car?"

The girl only grinned at her in return.

Shaking her head, Letty went inside with her, heading up to the nursery. There she found her favored toy, a red stuffed car from the Disney film, complete with a grinning face. Dom had bought it for her. With a squeal, the little girl clutched for it, hugging it against herself. Letty took her back outside, sitting her down in the grass with the toy. Perhaps it would distract her long enough to replace the windshield wipers, at the very least.

She walked back over to her car and began to replace the wipers. It was a quick job, but she was careful so as not to damage the windshield.

"Muh-cuh!"

Letty glanced up at the sound, to find her daughter sitting near the car's front wheel, still holding her stuffed vehicle. However his smiling face was now a little grass stained.

"What?" she asked, shoving the old wipers into the now-empty box. "Are you trying to say something? Mami. Ma-mi."

She knew Dom had been trying to coach the little girl to say Papi first, so it would serve him right if she said Mami first and while he was gone.

Her daughter stared up at her with big dark eyes. "Muh…." She trailed off. "Caw!" she announced instead, pointing at Letty's vehicle.

She stared back at her in surprise, then started to laugh. "Did you just say car? Of course you did."

"Caw," the girl repeated, holding up her stuffed friend.

"Yes, that's a car," Letty agreed. "And this is Mami's car."

She scooped up her daughter, hugging her close. "Wait till we tell Papi what your first word was!" She carried the girl inside with her toy. "He's going to be very disappointed he missed it."

As if on cue, the roar of the Charger's engine announced his arrival. The baby squealed at the sound.

"Caw!" she chirped.

The back door swung open shortly and Dom walked in, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and carrying a duffle bag with his gym clothes. He chose to shower at the gym just because he didn't want to be covered in sweat in his car on the drive home. He grinned at them.

"There are my favorite girls."

"We sure are. Wait till you hear what you missed." Letty grinned.

"What did I miss?" he asked, cupping the back of her head to lean down and kiss her.

Letty kissed him back, then laughed when their daughter hit him in the face with her stuffed car.

"Do you want a kiss too?" Dom asked her, leaning down to rain kisses over her face till she giggled and squirmed away.

"Tell Papi your word, mija," Letty said.

Dom's eyes widened. "Did you say Papi?"

The little girl blinked up at him and smiled, hugging her toy. She babbled nonsense in response.

"What did she say?" Dom asked Letty.

"She said car," Letty smirked. "Not Papi, not Mami. But car."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." He laughed.

"Maybe she'll say it again for you… eventually."

They both looked at their daughter, who hugged her car and blinked up at them. She grinned and reached for her father, who easily lifted her up.

She held up her toy for him. "Caw!" she told him.

Dom looked at her in delight, then grinned at Letty, who chuckled.

"Caw, caw, caw," the baby chanted, waving around the car in her arms.

"Now we'll never hear anything else," Letty told him, but Dom only laughed, hugged his daughter close, and carried her into the other room with her chants echoing in his ears.


	56. A First Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is about baby Toretto's first car trip to Mexico. Also there's a little bit of Dom/Letty love in this one so enjoy!

Their daughter had been two years old before they took their first real family road-trip. Just the three of them, driving down to Mexico for a week. Brian could run the garage with Mia in their absence with some help from Tej and Roman.

They had a place in Mexico, a little house that had been in Dom and Mia's mother's family for generations, and was left to them when their Aunt had passed away about five years earlier. Dom and Mia had paid to have it fixed up, modernized it a little. This was the house on the beach where Dom and Letty had married, where Brian and Mia had gone for their second honeymoon.

They left mid-week, early in the morning – before the sun had risen. The drive to Mazatlán was nearly twenty hours long, but Dom and Letty had made it many times. They would trade off on driving, not bothering to stop somewhere along the way to stay the night. At first they'd considered it, but their daughter loved the car, content to be in her seat as they drove along. She would play in the car, sleep in the car. She could be contented by looking out the window, by singing nonsensically along to the radio, or just lulled by the sound of the engine.

And if that novelty wore off then Letty had packed a tablet loaded with movies and little games. She carried the still-sleeping toddler out and fastened her gently into her car seat. She was wearing her pajamas, red with the Hulk on them, with little attached feet. She slept on, mouth slightly open, head lolling forwards so that her baby-soft dark curls fell over her eyes. Smiling to herself she stroked a hand over the top of her head before closing the door.

They locked up the house – Mia would be by to check on the place for them, before getting on the road. They were outside of the greater LA area before rush hour, which was intentional. For a while the road stretched before them without much traffic, allowing Dom to pick up speed. Letty slept for the first two hours, then woke up when they stopped for breakfast burritos and iced coffee.

The little one slept a bit longer, lulled by the feel and sound of the car. When she woke she sleepily ate mini chocolate chip pancakes and drank some milk as she stared out the window at the scenery flying by.

She babbled to them from the back seat, repeatedly mentioning her favorite word "car" with a great deal of nonsense. Occasionally a 'Mami' or 'Papi' drifted from the back seat when she wanted their attention.

For the most part she entertained herself, or let the car entertain her. They stopped for lunch and for Letty to take over as driver. They set her up with some chicken strips and a movie to watch on the tablet and she fell asleep again for another couple of hours. They passed through Arizona without much trouble, then drove south across the border into Mexico.

They passed through the border without any issues and drove nearly two hours into Mexico before the child in the back finally began to get squirmy. She had napped so long that she was full of energy, and even her enjoyment of the car couldn't make her want to sit still any longer. They pulled off at a rest stop that boasted a picnic area. There were a scattering of other travelers; tourists who'd packed their own food for the trip, families walking dogs or solo drivers getting out to stretch their legs and grab a smoke.

Once out of the car the toddler raced towards the grass excitedly. Dom stretched out under the shade of a tree with a yawn, smiling as she ran in circles until she made herself dizzy. She collapsed beside him, giggling. Dom reached over to tickle her belly and she squirmed away, squealing. She grabbed onto her mother's leg and Letty chuckled softly.

"What's up mija? You want your cars?"

"Caws!" the child agreed happily and Letty handed her some hot wheels that had been tucked into the bag with the other baby stuff.

Cars clutched against her chest the little girl ran back over to her father's side, passing him one of the toys. They played in the shade for about twenty minutes before Dom and Letty were ready to get back on the road.

"Ready to get back in the car, sweetheart?" Dom asked his daughter.

She frowned slightly, looking uncertain. "Home?" she asked.

"We're going to our summer house," Letty explained. "It's in Mexico. Right on the beach. Remember, Mami told you we're going to play on the beach every day?"

The girl nodded, dancing from foot to foot. "Beash!" she cheered and raced back to the car, followed by her amused parents.

"Good thing you didn't tell her it's still another eight hours away," Dom muttered to his wife.

"Please she has no concept of time anyway," Letty laughed. "Except that everything other than right now is a long time to wait."

Once they were back on the road they managed to pick up the pace, taking advantage of the long empty highways in Mexico at this time of the week. When they traded off driving again Letty climbed into the back seat to watch movies with her daughter snuggled in her lap and they stopped around six pm for tacos at a little roadside restaurant, choosing to sit on a table outside and eat so that the little girl could run around a bit and stretch her legs.

They drove along the coastal highway, watching the sun set across the ocean. It painted the sky with pinks and oranges, and a glowing gold that made everything look rich and warm. The toddler yawned in the back seat, mumbling sleepily to herself about the beach.

Letty glanced over the back of her seat to see her nodding off and smiled.

"Looks like the trip to the beach will have to wait till tomorrow," she murmured.

"Sounds good to me," Dom agreed. "I'm tired as hell."

She fixed him with a grin. "How tired?" Her dark eyes were wicked.

"Not that tired," he laughed.

They arrived at the house just after nine pm and Letty went to unlock the front door as Dom got their daughter out of her car seat.

The house itself was one story, sitting along the two-lane ocean road. Many other houses stretched out alongside it now, though Dom could remember a far-off memory when there had been many less. It had recently been repainted, a soft, faded blue color that warmed under the sun and cooled under the gaze of the moon. Gravel and shrubs, hearty dessert plants, rather than grass dominated the front yard of the house. The driveway was new, a simple strip of black pavement and there was no garage. The front door was yellow, the same door his Aunt had painted the sunny color, year after year. One thing he and Mia had insisted on leaving the same.

Inside it smelled of something spicy, with the faint hint of wood-finish and lemon cleaner beneath. Letty found a note in the kitchen from the neighbor who watched over the place, stating that she'd made them some food and left it in the fridge and that they should come by and say hello once they'd settled in.

Dom carried their daughter into the back bedroom, which had been where he and Mia slept whenever they came here as children. Now it was painted a simple white, with dark wooden floors and a pale green area-rug. The crib which Vince had used as a baby was here now, all made up with fresh sheets. On the wall old family pictures side-by-side with prints of smiling animals. Letty brought in the bag of baby clothes and he changed his daughter for bed, tucking her in. She didn't stir at all; a testament to how much the trip had worn her out.

He went back outside to help unload the rest of the bags, then locked the car. He and Letty carried their things to the master bedroom at the front end of the house. The large window had views of the ocean and if they cracked them open they could hear the waves crashing and smell the salt in the air. Letty stretched out on the bed, toeing off her shoes as Dom left the windows open, but drew the curtains. The moonlight filtered in through the fabric, bathing the room in a silvery glow. He sat at the edge of the bed to tug off his boots, then sighed, lying back.

"That drive seemed a lot shorter the last time we made it together," he murmured.

"You mean when we came down here to get married?" She laughed and turned to curl against him. "Maybe because you were nervous as hell. Also because we didn't have a small child in the car with us. I think we stopped maybe once."

"That's true," he agreed, wrapping his arm around her. "I was not nervous."

"Mmm hmm," she agreed, smirking against his throat. "Seemed nervous."

"I was anxious, it's different."

"What's the difference?" Letty asked, lifting her head to grin at him.

"It was more like… I couldn't wait to marry you," he said, threading a hand through her dark hair and pulling her down to kiss.

Letty wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her to lie atop him, his big hand inching down her back to rest against the curve of her hip. She sat up, straddling his waist as she tugged his t-shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the floor. It was joined by her top and Dom slid his other hand up her back to unhook her bra. Letty shrugged it off and tossed it behind her, leaning in close to kiss him deeply. His hands framed her face, fingers sliding into her hair, tangling there as she curled her tongue into his mouth, smiling against his lips.

The perfect start to their first vacation as a family.


	57. Chapter 57

As she slipped the black, slightly shapeless gown over her head it was hard to believe she'd come this far. Graduating college.

It seemed just yesterday was the first day of kindergarten.

Okay, maybe not, but it suddenly seemed like everything had gone so fast. And even though she was proud of herself and happy with the direction her life was going, a little part of her felt the fluttering of nerves within her chest.

She'd already moved out. She was engaged. Life had already changed.

But she couldn't help but feel she was losing something as she looked into the mirror of her old room. She'd come to her parents' place to get ready. Her room had been left alone since she'd moved out, always there for her to crash in when she came home to visit.

But this summer she'd be moving in with Ty, emptying a lot of the stuff from both her apartment and this room. Her mother was already talking about making it into a guest room. It made her feel a little sad, even though she knew that was silly.

She knew she'd always be welcomed home again. She'd always feel like this place was home, no matter what the room looked like.

1327.

She'd come home to this house when she was born. She'd grown up here. Her dad and aunt had grown up here. She was certain her mom and dad would live here for the rest of their lives.

Speak of the devil.

She looked up at the knock on her door.

"Come in."

Her dad filled the doorway, taking up the space with his broad shoulders. She smiled at him as he looked at her. His eyes had fallen on her gown, drifted to the cap still sitting atop her dresser. She could tell he was having the same thoughts she had moments ago. For some reason it was always hardest on Dad to watch her grow up.

His eyes dropped down to her shoes, her favorite beat up old red converse.

"I don't think those meet the dress code," he said, grinning.

She reached over to hold up the strappy red heels sitting on her bed. "Gonna put them on when we get there. Minimize my suffering."

He laughed and she smiled, stepping forward to wrap her arms around him.

"You clean up good, Dad."

He made a face at her, but he did look nice in the black tailored suit and white shirt. If she had to guess she'd say Aunt Mia had taken him to get it.

"Not every day my little girl graduates from college."

She grinned at him. "With honors, no less."

He smiled back, and she could see the pride in his face, and the set of his shoulders. It caused warmth to bloom in her chest and she squeezed his hand.

"Where's the rest of the clan?"

"Aunt Mia and Uncle Brian just arrived, so we're just waiting on Vince and his girlfriend, and Ty."

"Aunt Mia is always criminally early to everything," she reminded, reaching for the simple red studs she wore in her ears.

"True," he agreed. "But she wanted to help your mother do her hair."

"I'm sure Mom's thrilled," she laughed.

"She'll let Mia do it anyway. It makes her happy."

She nodded in agreement, grabbing her cap and tassel from the dresser. She took that and her shoes and followed her father downstairs. Uncle Brian was in the kitchen putting something in the fridge. Probably food her aunt had brought for the celebration afterwards.

He straightened up and grinned. "Look who it is. The graduation girl," he said, moving to hug her in greeting.

Aunt Mia had gotten him into a nice grey suit and a blue shirt that made his eyes stand out. Unlike her dad he'd even put on a tie. She tugged at it with a smirk.

He pulled a face. "Mia insisted."

"And no one is surprised," her dad replied, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

When the doorbell rang she grinned. "I'll get it," she said, ducking into the living room.

She heard her father saying "She's probably hoping its Ty," as she departed.

"You mean the fiancé?" Uncle Brian replied, and she could tell he was grinning, giving her dad a hard time. Dad still seemed to be in denial about the fact that his little girl was engaged.

Shaking her head she tugged open the door to see Vince standing there with his girlfriend Hye-Su. He looked like his dad, sun-bleached blonde hair and a lean, muscular build. Unlike his dad he sported the dark eyes he'd inherited from Aunt Mia, and wore only a pair of khaki dress pants and a pale blue button down.

Hye-Su was wearing a dress and the yellow silk would have been delicate except that it was accented by silver zippers instead of straps and two zippered pockets in the skirt.

"Awesome dress," she told the Korean girl, who grinned and tucked her hands into said pockets, doing a spin.

"Thanks. Sorry I couldn't get Vincent here into something more interesting than his detective clothes. But some people have no sense of fashion."

The girls laughed as Vince rolled his eyes. She liked Hye-Su. Vince had met her years ago now, the night they'd both gotten arrested racing. Apparently she'd been impressed enough to get past that. Or something.

She personally didn't think her cousin was that impressive.

She laughed as he grabbed her into a tight hug. "Congrats little Cuz," he said, before setting her down on her feet. "I can't believe you're graduating from college already."

"Look who is talking Mr. responsible-job guy working on his pension and 401k." She smirked. "You're like a full-fledged adult now."

"Looking forward to joining me?" he asked, wrapping his arm around Hye-Su.

"I dunno," she mumbled. "I mean… I did the school thing… I'm engaged. I could probably keep working at the garage till I find a job, or just you know… just stay there. It'll be my place one day."

"You seem unsure," Vince's girlfriend said. "A little freaked out?"

"I guess I mean… I'm only 23. Shouldn't I… do something more exciting than just stay in LA, have a job, get married and start popping out babies?"

"Ew, no way girl. You got years to do that." Hye-Su shook her head. "Go have some adventures."

"Yeah take a road trip," Vince suggested. "Drive down to South America, like our parents did."

She smirked at him. "You mean when they were on the run from the law?"

"Well… skip that part," he said. "There's only so much trouble I can get you out of."

"Who's getting in trouble?" Letty's voice drifted as she came down the stairs with Mia at her heels.

"No one, Mami," her daughter replied with a grin. "At least not yet."

"It won't be long though," Aunt Mia said with a laugh, moving to hug her niece. Then she looked down at her feet. "Please tell me you aren't wearing those shoes…"

"My heels are in the kitchen with Dad and Uncle Brian."

"I hope neither of them is wearing them either," Aunt Mia replied.

"Now there's a horrifying image," her mother said. "We just waiting on Ty now?"

"Yeah," she frowned. "It's not like him to be late though…"

"He has plenty of time," Vince said. "Don't worry."

They gathered in the kitchen where they found her dad and uncle in a deep discussion about engines. Surprising no one. Also surprising no one they were soon all involved in the debate, not hearing the sound of Ty's car pulling up to the house.

Of course, his arrival wasn't to be missed when he walked through the back door, carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. His fiancée abandoned her family at the table to hug him, taking the flowers.

She smirked at him. "How traditional of you…"

"Should I take them back?" he asked with a grin but she smiled and took the flowers from him, a brilliant burst of red lilies and blue dahlias.

"Don't be silly," she said. "I'm just teasing."

Aunt Mia got out a vase for her to put them in, while her mother joked that this was the first time she was getting flowers from a boy and she was already engaged to him.

"That's because on our first anniversary he bought me new rims," she explained.

"The true way to our girl's heart," her father put in with a laugh.

"Or anyone in this family," Mia added.

"Except maybe you," Vince told his mother.

"I'm a girl who would be happy with flowers," she agreed, smiling as she helped her niece arrange hers.

They soon headed out to the cars to make their way over to the college. Dom hung back, waiting for his daughter as she ran upstairs to get her camera.

She smiled at him as she stepped into the kitchen. "Ready Papi?"

"Yeah…" he agreed, wrapping one arm around her. "I'm proud of you, baby girl, you know that, right?"

She smiled. "Always. You always made sure I did." She hugged him tight. "Where I am now, who I am… I owe it to you and Mami. I know not everyone gets great parents. I know not everyone gets chill parents. I got it all. You let me misbehave when I needed to… you always supported me. Believed in me. You pushed me in the right direction."

She stepped outside with him. Ty was waiting for her at his car and she signaled him to wait a minute.

"Dad I know it feels like time's flown by sometimes… and things are changing. It scares me a little. But then I remember, no matter where I go, what I do… I'll always have you and Mom. I'll always have my family. So I'm going to go out there, I'm gonna walk across that stage… then I think I'm going to go have an adventure."

He laughed, tweaked her nose like he used to when she was a little girl. "You do that. Just try not to get into too much trouble doing it."

"Well… I _am_ a Toretto," she said, winking as she strolled down to the car where her fiancé was waiting.

Yeah… that probably meant there was trouble in her future.


	58. An Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys so well… I decided I wanted to close this series up. I may eventually add to it, if I come up with inspiration for one shots. But lately I've been struggling just to write so I want to concentrate on my other series and on school work and bring this to a proper close. Thank you guys who have been reading with me. I know some of the chapters are silly, some are fluffy as hell, some are cute, others are emotional. I hope I gave you guys a glimpse into a sort of AU possible future universe for some of our favorite characters. A way to see something that we won't in the films.
> 
> Anyway, blah blah. This final chapter deals with family, and the continuation of family. I sort of wanted to end it on a note like this. It was either this or their daughter standing at their graves and then I thought that was way too depressing so I did this instead. So I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again for reading!

It was the first time in many years he found himself in a hospital room without a sense of dread hovering over him. No accident, no broken bones, no shady medical care on the other side of the border after running from the law.

No, this was different. This was about life.

It didn't mean it wasn't nerve-wracking.

In fact, he didn't think he'd been this nervous since the day his daughter was born. She was all grown up now. Married, moved out. And having a baby of her own.

She was twenty-six years old. But she was still his little girl.

He could watch her become a grandmother and she would still be his little girl. Though, honestly, he didn't think he'd live to see that day.

His wife sighed as she sat down beside him, passing him a hot cup of black coffee. She smiled and the lines around her eyes deepened. Her black hair was threaded through with silver.

He reached for her hand and she linked their fingers together, offering his a squeeze.

"You ready for this, Papa?" she asked.

He chuckled, because she always asked that. "I don't think the baby is gonna wait if I say no."

She grinned. "Definitely not."

He was quiet a moment, taking a sip of bitter coffee. The waiting room around them was not empty, but anyone speaking did so in hushed voices.

"Remember the day she was born?" he asked, suddenly.

Letty raised a brow. "Couldn't forget that."

"Can't believe it's been so many years."

"Feeling old?" She smirked.

"You're the one with the grey hair," he teased.

"That's because you don't have any."

"You could always color it like Mia," he said with a grin.

"You think I'm that vain?"

He laughed. "I'm not answering that."

"Don't want to end up in the doghouse?" she asked.

Thankfully he was rescued from further questioning by the arrival of Brian and Mia. He stood to embrace his sister.

"Any news yet?" she asked.

"No, but it's only been about six hours and you know how that goes," Letty answered, also moving to hug Mia as well.

"I have some recollection, yes,' her sister-in-law laughed.

"Vince is at work, but I told Hye-Su I'd call when the baby got here."

"He's going to have a big family welcome," Brian added with a grin.

"Dom wants to have a big barbeque when he comes home, invite everyone," Letty smiled.

"Toretto tradition," Mia agreed.

They settled down to wait, Mia pulling out a crossword that they all worked on together. She took out the baby book she'd started for her niece, currently only with a couple of ultrasound photos.

After a couple more hours, Dom and Brian went to explore the offerings at the hospital cafeteria. They picked up some bagels and cookies, and some water bottles which they brought back up to the girls.

Talking shop passed the time but it seemed like an eternity of waiting, sitting in uncomfortable chairs while people came in and left. More than one pregnant, panting woman escorted through the doors as they slouched in the waiting room. Brian perused the pages of an outdated magazine on men's health and Mia played puzzle games on her smartphone.

Waiting took far more patience than Dom had, to be honest. There were times when he wanted to get up and pace the halls. And perhaps more than a couple moments when he thought about grabbing Brian and escaping to go race down some side streets.

Anything. Anything other than sitting in the hospital waiting room for hours longer.

Of course, both his wife and daughter would have kicked his ass if he'd actually done it. Maybe it said something about how much he'd grown in the years that this was enough to keep him sitting in his seat.

In the end he must have drifted off, because he woke some time later to Letty calling his name and shaking his shoulder insistently. Groggily he blinked his eyes open and looked at her, stifling a yawn.

"What?"

"We can go in and see our grandchild now," she said with a laugh. "Of course you slept through it, Papa."

"Hey, it wasn't like I was the one getting my hand crushed and cursed out this time," he replied, standing up and wincing at the way his back cracked.

He was not getting old. He was not getting old.

"I heard that," Letty said. "Getting so old your body is complaining."

"That's not funny, Let."

"Yes it is," she quipped, grabbing his hand with her own. Hers was smaller, but her fingers were callused from all the work she did at the garage.

"Where are Mia and Brian?" he asked as she tugged him down a hallway. The numbers on the walls pointed towards 305 to 320.

"Calling Hye-Su and Vince. And everyone else. They'll come by afterwards."

"What about Ty's parents?"

"They're on their way." She nudged him. "So we have a bit alone before the crowd arrives."

Dom smiled but he couldn't explain the strange feeling in his chest. Like a tightness that fell in a hollow place. His daughter had already gotten married, had already moved out. He'd seen her only that morning, her belly round beneath a faded old shirt that Letty had once bought him in Mexico. But it was like reality sat on the other side of that hospital room door. One more step in her new life.

One more step away from him.

Or maybe Letty was right and he really was just scared of getting older.

There were lots of times in his life he'd never thought he'd make it this far. Like life really was just a quarter mile long and either you won or you crashed or maybe you just ran out of track. But somehow his track had kept going. The engine was still full and life was just cruising along. And maybe the road was different, and things went a little slower sometimes… a lot more often these days.

Somehow he didn't mind so much.

Letty pushed open the door to the small room with walls painted a soft blue. Sunlight was filtering in through the window. Ty was standing near the window, beside a little bassinette, looking happy if a little tired. Dom didn't want to tell him that there would be a lot of sleepless nights to come.

But he would remind him – gently – that he needed to help out with the late night crib runs or he'd probably be doing a lot of sleeping on the couch.

He moved across the room to hug them both excitedly, then stepped aside so they could go in and see their daughter.

She was sitting up in the hospital bed, a small bundle wrapped in white blankets held in her arms.

"Mami, Papi," she smiled at them and her eyes, so much like Letty's seemed to be lit up from the inside.

Her dark hair was bundled back in a hastily done ponytail, strands still stuck to her forehead and cheeks and along her neck. Never let the movies make you think giving birth was easy, after all. Which Letty would attest to quite firmly – with the addition of the fact that she was not going to do it more than once.

As Dom moved closer he could see the black hair peeking out from the edge of the blanket – tight curls close to the scalp, more like Ty's hair than his daughter's. Caramel colored skin the same shade Letty's would get after a summer spent on the beach. The baby seemed… impossibly small, pudgy arms curled close to his little body, round face with his dark eyes sort of groggily half-open. Blinking up at him as he looked down.

His daughter smiled, lifted the bundle in her arms. "Want to hold him?"

When Dom took the baby in his arms he remembered the first time he held her… just like this. Head cupped in the palm of his hand, tucked in the crook of his arm, held close like a fragile piece of glass. He was a little bigger than she'd been, but there was that same, easy feeling of love that curled in his chest. Letty leaned over to touch the baby's little hand and grin.

"I gotta say… he looks like Ty."

"Yeah," her daughter agreed. "We think so too." She chuckled. "But I'm willing to be that Toretto personality is gonna come out once he starts getting older."

"Please," Letty rolled her eyes. "Your dad and Uncle Brian already bought him toy cars."

"Brian's gonna try and push the imports," Dom told her. "Don't let him get to my grandson."

She laughed. "Papi, honestly? Are you forgetting who you're talking to?"

"Yeah she's like a small, female version of you, Dom," Letty said.

"I don't know," Dom shook his head. "She's got your attitude."

"The best of both worlds," their daughter put in from the bed, then held out her arms when the baby started to fuss.

"What name did you settle on, anyway?" Letty asked, taking a seat as Dom passed the boy over.

"We decided on Anthony," she said softly, meeting her father's eyes with a smile. "After grandpa."

Dom looked down at the baby who was now his father's namesake and smiled. Somehow it had all come full circle. Life had taken then on a twisted, hectic journey and ended up with them here. With a family. And when it came down to it…

Family was what really mattered.


End file.
